Akatsuki's Week With A Baby Itachi
by Yuna Yami Mouto
Summary: Orochimaru tries to control Itachi with a jutsu, but it backfires and the Akatsuki are left with a few problems on their less than care-capable hands. Thank Kami it was reversible!
1. Chapter 1

**Akatsuki's Week With Baby Itachi**

 **Summary: Orochimaru tries to control Itachi with a jutsu, but it backfires and the Akatsuki are left with a few problems on their less than care-capable hands. Thank Kami it was reversible!**

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Was all Uzumaki Nagato, AKA Pein, the leader of the infamous criminal organization known as the Akatsuki, could say at the sight that greeted him and Konan.

It had been an ordinary day, although a bit cold for such a late spring day with the promise of a storm. But that was perfectly normal. They were just outside of the territory of Amegakure and in the direction of Kirigakure, so it was to be expected that they get more rain than sunny days and especially in spring or autumn. So, yes. Perfectly normal.

That is until they got a tip that Orochimaru had actually gathered the balls to come their way again, if their informant was to be believed and he _was_ , since he was another one of Sasori's sleeper agents. Sasori had, of course, instantly demanded that he be allowed to go and hunt down the traitorous snake and drag back his body so he can clear the disgrace from his name because of the Sannin. Kakuzu had explicitly disagreed, demanding that _he_ went to retrieve Orochimaru so they could sell his corpse to a bounty hunter for the nice sum of money it would bring them. Hidan and Deidara disagreed even more, since Deidara was pissed off that Orochimaru has survived his bombing of the snake's hideout in Suna and the zealot just wanted to kill something, so he figured why not Orochimaru.

But as they argued, Kisame asked one simple, yet immensely important question.

"Where is Itachi-san?"

Pein had cursed up a storm, remembering Orochimaru's all too obvious obsession with the Uchiha and had ordered his men to forget about the Sannin for the moment and to focus on finding Itachi. Sure, the fifteen and a half years old was probably the least likely to lose a fight against Orochimaru even on his worst of days but Pein would rather be safe than sorry. Itachi might be a perfect ninja but he was still human.

So they had set out on their mission to retrieve the weasel, who, according to Kisame, had went out into the surrounding forest to train, like he usually did in the period between him waking up and lunch. The forest, although not nearly as large, thick or confusing as Konoha's, was still pretty damn hard to search through, especially when you were searching for a training ninja of Itachi's caliber. The Uchiha tended to prefer training alone than with others, even his partner despite how close they have seemingly gotten. Kisame respected his partner's wishes and left him to it, but Pein was sure he was seriously regretting it now.

They split up, hoping to cover more ground that way and search faster. Pein even had his other bodies out and searching, two sticking close to Kisame since the man was alone and no doubt in a slight panic the more time went by without them finding his partner. But they were having little luck. When Itachi didn't want to be found, he won't be until he is good and ready to reveal himself. Any other time, it would be admirable. Right now it was so annoying that Deidara blew up a few trees and Kakuzu didn't stop Hidan from killing a dozen squirrels. Tobi was unnaturally quiet as more and more time passed and Konan was starting to fear the worst when a strange chakra wave hit them, Pein barely managing to catch his girlfriend in time before they were both knocked over. The chakra he sensed felt wrong but the undercurrents that revealed its user was all too familiar and Pein grit his teeth. They had found Orochimaru and Pein had no doubt Itachi was there, too. Konan and he exchanged looks before sprinting at top speeds in the direction that the shock wave had originated from.

When they arrived, that particular part of the forest looked as though Jiraiya-sensei's giant toads, Gamabunta in particular, had thrown a temper tantrum and had stomped all over quite a few yards of woodland area. Many trees were downed, their branches broken and ripped straight out of the ground, the roots still desperately clinging to some earth. A good few patches of ground were singed and others looked as though an explosion had left a crater there. Speaking of craters, there was a really big one in the center of the new clearing, a shed skin from Orochimaru's regeneration healing jutsu flying in a breeze out of the hole.

It was what greeted them at the edge of the hole that had garnered such a reaction from Nagato. He rubbed his eyes, thinking - _hoping_ \- he was seeing things and that this was just some crazy dream or something. But it was not. His Rinnegan eyes don't lie to him and he could clearly feel the familiar, refined chakra signature, so this was no illusion or hallucination, no matter how much he wished it were otherwise. But cruel reality stared at him in the eyes in the form of two narrowed black eyes and a tightly, expertly gripped kunai in a small hand.

"Stay back." Pein arched an eyebrow at the order but stayed where he was, not wanting to antagonize the wielder of said weapon. "Who are you? Where am I?" The questions were asked in a sure, demanding voice but no answers were forthcoming, so black eyes narrowed further into a rather intimidating scowl, if the ginger was being honest. "What do you want?"

"We mean you no harm," Konan said gently, kneeling to be eye level with the fierce little fighter. "We want to help you but you need to trust us. Okay?" She stayed perfectly still as those impossibly dark eyes studied her, searching for a threat, a hint of a lie and no doubt her weak spots, should he find her lying. And Konan _would_ be lying if she said the throughout scan didn't unnerve her at all. After what seemed like an eternity, the black eyed one nodded, lowering his weapon but never putting it away, keeping a steady grip. Konan knew this was the best she'll get until they earn his trust. So she smiled at him as she introduced herself and her partner. "My name is Konan and that is Pein. You are at the edges of Amegakure's territory and we heard you were in trouble. We just want to help."

They saw him look away from them to the floating discarded, freaky skin that Orochimaru had left behind upon fleeing from the scene. Judging from the thing, he'd been stabbed in the gut and his left arm was grazed by a blade, probably the bloody kunai that had been prepared to slice into them, too.

"Why would Orochimaru-san attack me?" Konan and Pein exchanged a look. "He always seemed friendly... if a bit strange."

"We don't know." The man lied, deciding not to go into any unnecessary detail. But they had to get back to base before they and their little companion could run into any more trouble. "But we should get going." He extended a hand for him to take and Konan smiled as she offered him her hand, too. Small, pale hands hesitated before gripping the offered hands. But he didn't move for a while, just standing there and Pein and Konan not wanting to push or rush him waited him out. Finally, he nodded and looked up at him, making Pein's lips twitch upwards of their own valuation at how adorable those eyes looked without a glare. Konan just cooed at him. "Let's go, Itachi."

"Hai." Uchiha Itachi, aged four, said as he let the two adults to lead him away.

00000

"Itachi-san?!" A fretting Kisame dropped to his knees in front of his miniaturized partner, staring at him in disbelief and worry in his yellow, beady eyes. The little boy just blinked up at him, cocking his head to the side and studying the interesting blue man. Big hands reached out for him and, much to Kisame's relief, Itachi didn't pull away as he touched his shoulders and hair lightly, needing physical evidence that what he was seeing was real.

The child offered him a small smile that was just so _Itachi_ that Kisame was left with no doubt. This was his young ... even _younger_ partner. "Hello."

"Aw, fuck!" Hidan crowed, startling Kisame out of his shock and prompting Itachi to hide behind Konan and Pein, earning the Jashinist the latter's glare. "He's so damned cute!"

"It's to be expected." Kakuzu said with a nod, staring at the kid clinging to the robes of their leader and his girlfriend. "He _does_ grow to be quite attractive."

Hidan promptly stopped laughing and glared at his partner slash lover. "You into little boys now, Kakuzu?" He hissed and the ancient shinobi snorted at the zealot.

"I am just being realistic about his looks. I know beauty when I see it and beauty has been rooted in the Uchiha's genes for centuries." He turned his strange green eyes on the child again. "It just seems to have culminated in Itachi."

"You're sleeping on the couch, asshole!" With that, Hidan stormed up towards their shared room in the sleeping quarters of the base. A moment later, they heard what sounded like pillows and sheets being thrown out of the zealot's and miser's room, followed by his toothbrush and even his money cabinet. Then the door was slammed, sealing Kakuzu's fate. The oldest shinobi could only sigh before turning back to the matter of their youngest member becoming even younger. Itachi now barely reached any of their hips, his luscious hair only reached above his shoulders and his eyes seemed _huge_ on his cherubic face. How the kid went from gorgeous to cute because of one jutsu, Kakuzu will never understand.

Or rather, how Itachi had become so hot at such a young age. When he had first seen the kid, he still actually _looked_ like a kid. But the boy grew a head taller by the time he saw him next. By Juzo's death, Itachi looked more adult like than most twenty year olds. He'd matured a great deal in that time and became the inspiration for many a people's wet dreams. Kakuzu had needed a bit of an adaptation period, as had Sasori back then. To see Itachi even cuter than they already know him to be ... Well, when he returned to his real age, it won't really matter that they are completely loyal and devoted to their partners. Hell, even their _partners_ will be staring! Kakuzu paused to wonder how Kisame will take it all. His rather huge crush on the weasel might get out in the open if he's not careful.

"So, what, un? Itachi-dana's like, five or something, un?" Deidara finally asked, looking at the Uchiha curiously. How could this little boy grow to be that unstoppable, unbeatable shinobi he had first met?

"Four." The miniaturized Uchiha said, earning him everyone's attention. He hid a little more behind Konan, obviously not all that comfortable with the stares he was getting. "I am four years old."

"He speaks rather fluently for a four year old brat." Sasori commented with a grunt, coming closer to inspect the child a little bit better. "I used to have a lisp at that age and my grammar was horrendous."

"Itachi-san _is_ a genius." The shark man said with a shrug. ''He probably figured it all out when he was really young and soon perfected it.''

"I don't think this is the topic of conversation we should be having," the only girl in the organization pointed out. "We need to figure out what to do with him. Missions are obviously out of the question, but what should we do with him then?"

"We're not wasting money on baby gear." Kakuzu immediately snapped. "Do you have any idea how expensive that stuff is?"

Itachi frowned in displeasure at being called a baby and made his displeasure known very clearly. "I am not a baby. I don't require anything special. I spend most of my time training and studying, anyway, so you don't need to get me anything. In fact, the most fun activity I get to do on an almost daily basis is balancing the Clan's check book." The adults gapped at the boy but Itachi just shrugged, which earned a bit more staring. After all, you usually never see Itachi shrug, snort or roll his eyes. He was too polite for that. But, then again, he was still only a child right now. He probably learned to keep the urges to make those reactions to himself as he got older.

Then it finally dawned on Kakuzu the implications behind Itachi's words. "Wait, are you telling me you know how to deal finances?" At the incredulous tone of voice the man used, the child tilted his head and stared at him as though he was weird.

"Yes," he answered a bit hesitantly. "The adults are all out fighting in the war and those who are left at the Compound usually have to look after children or something like that so they don't have the time to focus on it. Especially not for the entire Clan. So instead they give it to me to do."

"A child shouldn't be forced into doing that!" Konan protested, suddenly scooping Itachi up from where he had been still holding onto her and Pein's robes. She looked him in the eye boldly and was impressed that Itachi met her gaze as though he were still an adult- well, teen, to be precise. Itachi just acted so mature most of the time that they even forget he's not sixteen yet. "Itachi, you won't have to deal with the finances here, okay? Kakuzu is the one who balances our check books and all that. You can go and play and do whatever you like doing."

The child's eyes seem to brighten up a bit so Konan expertly ignores Kakuzu's protests that even he could use some help every once in a while. "I can read?" At her surprised expression, he elaborates, mistaking it for shock that he was asking about being allowed to read instead of it being surprise that he _can_ read at all at such a young age. "I am usually only allowed to read scrolls with geography, jutsts or history in them. I mean, yes, I love the history ones but I'd like to read about other things, too. Maybe about plants or distant places or other cultures. I'd really like to read other people's thoughts!" The boy seemed to be getting more and more excited as he talked about the topics that interest him. "Chichiue calls them philosophers and weaklings who give meaningless and useless theories, but they're called wise and I would really like to read about wise people's thoughts and lives. Can I?"

"Your father must have never read anything those wise people wrote," Kisame said as he finally got back up to his full height. He watched as awe flashed across the little Uchiha's face when he saw just how _tall_ the blue man was. It didn't seem to intimidate him. Nothing ever seemed to. "I personally think they're all awesome. But being around my partner kind of got me into it in the first place. He's a bit of a philosopher, too."

Itachi's eyes widened a bit more. "Really? Can I meet him?" He suddenly looked a bit shy, drawing himself closer to Konan who cooed at how cute he was. "I mean, if it's no trouble, that is."

"So cute." Was all the kunoichi said as she nuzzled their cheeks. The Uchiha actually flushed a little.

Kisame just grinned at his little partner, completely agreeing with Konan. Itachi was just too cute. "I'm sure he'd love to but he's out on a mission. You know how busy ninjas could be." If they expected the boy to deflate or to pout like a disappointed child, they got it wrong. Itachi just nodded understandingly and let the matter drop.

Pein took this moment to stir the conversation back on track. "We will watch Itachi until this thing wears off and he returns to normal. If it takes too long, we'll hunt down Orochimaru and make him reverse it."

"We should just hunt him down and make him do it now, un." Deidara said, crossing his arms and staring at the child in a whole new light. He had just realized that this boy of four was actually the prick of an Uchiha who had trapped him in a genjutsu when they first met. Sure, Deidara had refused to join the Akatsuki and Itachi had said what would happen if he lost but he had never anticipated the almost artistic qualities of Itachi's technique. He had never been so in awe by someone else's art and so he hated Itachi for making him feel like that. He wasn't going to change his attitude for a little boy who is still actually the guy he hates. "I won't play babysitter, un."

"As if we'd let _you_ guys take care of a child." The kunoichi all but hissed, bringing Itachi closer to herself as thought to shield him from the very idea. "Hell no. You'd kill him!"

"We wouldn-"

Sasori's protests were ignored as Pein picked up for his partner. "Itachi will stay in our room until we can all get settled in with the idea that a kid is running around the base. If he wants, he can stay with Kisame some times, or if Konan and I can't stay at the base. Zetsu is already out searching for Orochimaru with Tobi, so hopefully, once they find him, we can make the bastard turn Itachi back and then kill him once and for all. But until then, _all_ of you are to be on your best behavior. No explosions, no poisons, no rituals or sacrifices, no cursing, no fights and _no sweets_. I hear kids get extra hyper from them."

"So, if we're not taking care of the kid," Kakuzu had to ask. "Who is?"

"Whoever said you _won't_ be taking care of him?" Pein countered, lifting his hand up to ruffle Itachi's short hair. It was still as soft as silk and the same color of ash it usually is, but it was very short now. It barely reached his shoulders, as opposed to his ponytail that he usually wears and it reaches his middle back. Itachi seemed a bit unused to the gesture and the attention he was getting but he said nothing and let it happen. The others gaped at their Leader, although Kisame looked a bit relieved that he still got to fuss over the Uchiha like he discretely does every now and again. "You'll just not spend all that much time with him at once. For instance, we will have a rotation. Everyone has to look after him for two hours. Once that is up, you either bring him to the next person or wait for them to come and pick him up." He went to continue but Itachi stopped him.

"That really is not necessary, sir." He said respectfully but his eyes were very serious. "There is no need for that. I can take care of myself. There is no need to burden others."

"Itachi, kids aren't burdens." The ginger haired man replied. "They should be considered precious, be protected and cared for. Whoever calls a child a burden is a cold bastard of a man."

"I am _so_ installing a swear jar," Konan mumbled under her breathe and Itachi chuckled, really quietly so only Pein and Konan heard. It brought on strangely tender smiles from the two Akatsuki leaders. "How can he be this cute?"

"I'll make a rotion for taking care of Itachi. Everyone will have at least half an hour a day with him. That's the least we can do." The others present nodded and Pein turned his attention back to the four year old. "Would you like something to eat?"

Itachi just nodded slowly and Konan smiled as she walked towards the kitchen, never once lessening her grip on the toddler. The other could just watch before shrugging and going their own way, Kakuzu in particular to either threaten or beg his partner and lover to let him back into their room. Pein sighed before leaving the base altogether, knowing they will still need kiddie stuff and especially some clothes for Itachi. He can't exactly go around in the clothes his teenage self would usually wear, after all.

00000

"Thank you for the meal, Konan-san." Itachi politely intoned after finishing his two rice balls, feeling full for the moment. He was currently sitting on one of the counter tops in the kitchen while the woman in question made breakfast. The purple haired girl smiled at how polite Itachi was even as a child and couldn't help but ruffle his hair affectionately just because she could. She had seen a thirteen year old Itachi and had thought him awfully cute, the blood of his relatives not withstanding. Back then, she had fought down urges to hug him or mess with his hair or even pinch his cheeks. Now, he was even cuter than she had thought possible. The urges were _much_ stronger now but he didn't seem to mind. "That's a really pretty origami." That statement, however, reminded her that it was still the same Itachi, be he four, thirteen or fifteen and a half years old. He was still as perceptive as ever, his eyes all but all-seeing. "Did you make it?" The curious child asked, tilting his head to the side in a very adorable way.

 _'So cute,'_ she thought as she smiled gently at the boy. "Thank you and yes, I have made it myself." And wasn't she just proud! Itachi very rarely commented on what he perceived to be pretty as a teenager. It came from his desire not to get caught up in Sasori's and Deidara's annoying art arguments or get bombarded with that something by Tobi in an attempt to piss him off, as many believed. To hear a compliment like that was a real treat to her own artist side and inflated her ego quite a bit. She briefly wondered if this was why Itachi rarely gave praise to anyone. If this were to happen often enough, Konan felt as though she'd end up becoming arrogant. After all, a pride can be inflated only so much and only for so long before people got overly cocky.

"I never got to learn to make origami." The child mumbled, instantly bringing Konan's attention back to him. "I always found it fascinating, how paper can take on so many shapes with the right pattern followed. It's mystifying."

 _'He has a pretty advanced vocabulary for someone his age,'_ she observed but she suddenly felt excitement when his words registered. Itachi liked origami? "Would you like to learn how?" Big black eyes brightened at the offer and Itachi nodded enthusiastically. Konan wanted to giggle. It was so unlike Itachi to be this expressive. It was definitely something she could get used to but knew it won't be staying that way when the Uchiha returns to his regular age. "Okay," she said, abandoning the dinner altogether and sitting both herself and Itachi at the table. She took up a napkin pack and placed it on the table between them before placing a napkin in front of them each. She took hers up and saw how Itachi was already mimicking every move she made. She paused to look at his eyes but they were their normal black. "This is how we begin."

When later asked, Konan would be unable to say where the time went as she pretended to be unable to explain to six hungry missing ninjas why their dinner consisted of only bread, peanut butter and jelly. Though the beautiful paper rose in Itachi's hair and the expertly made paper weasel in his hands might have given her away.

00000

The next morning, when Pein got out of his bed and prepared to face yet another day of being the Leader of a bunch of crazy, homicidal murderers that made up the Akatsuki, he had not been expecting to find Itachi already awake and in the kitchen. In the cute little pajamas they'd managed to get him that consisted of a T-shit and pants, black with white weasel prints all over them, the little genius was busying himself with making coffee and omlettes that smelled absolutely divine when Pein walked in. Itachi had no problems reaching all the shelves or the stove, as he was, much to Pein's great surprise, using chakra suction at his feet to climb up wherever he needed to be, easily overseeing and reaching everything as he prepared the delicious breakfast for the still sleeping adults. Pein was not quite as surprised to see the perfectly roasted toast already pilled up on a big plate in the middle of the dinning table, along with a few fruits and vegetables placed on each plate. Even at a young age, Itachi preferred a healthy meal, it would seem.

"Itachi?" He called out and the boy looked at him over his shoulder, not seeming surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Good morning, Leader-sama." The child politely said, stirring the eggs so they won't end up sticking to the pan. He looked awfully comfortable doing that. Pein shuddered to think that the boy had had to cook for himself, and possibly others, at such a young age. Just _what_ were the Uchiha _thinking_?

"Good morning. And you don't have to call me that. My name is Nagato." He was so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't even register he had, once again, told Itachi to call him by his real name. When Itachi had first arrived at their hideout some two years ago, Nagato had sensed how different the boy was. He had introduced himself as Pein back then, too, but within the first month of Itachi being in the Akatsuki, Pein had grown to greatly respect him, as a ninja, as a person and as a comrade. One might even make the mistake of calling them friends, had Nagato not been Itachi's employer. Pein had told the Uchiha to address him as Nagato as long as they were alone or around only Konan. Itachi always had to be reminded, since he respected Nagato back a great deal, so it almost became a habit to correct Itachi when they were alone. Konan found it very amusing. "Why are you up so early? You don't have to make breakfast for us. We take turns in doing that, too."

Itachi returned to the frying pan and all was quiet except for the sizzling of oil until Itachi deemed the big batch of omlettes ready and served it on the table, setting the spatula and a knife as well. Pein got a good look and a long whiff of the food and found his mouth watering. There were little bits of sausages in the mix and quite a few different herbs had been added, as well as Parmesan. It was a meal fit for a king. "I'm used to waking up early. And I usually have to help with breakfast at the camp."

"Camp?"

The Uchiha nodded, easily jumping up onto his chair and sitting on his knees so he can easily reach his own plate. "The war encampment of Konoha shinobi just outside the first forests surrounding the village." Pein stiffened at this but Itachi, for once, didn't seem to notice as he continued talking. "Chichiue wants me to understand the life of a ninja so he took me with him. Minato-sama wasn't very happy when he learned that father had taken me out to the battlefield last month so he insisted that I be brought back to the village. He seems to be of the mind that Chichiue wants to send me out to battle next."

"You saw a war zone after a battle?" The ginger asked incredulously. "That's at times more dangerous than a battle itself!" After all, the injured survivors tend to be desperate at that time, clinging to life as they know even an ally might kill them if they were deemed too injured to waste their medical supplies on them. At such a time, there was no such thing as a ally and comrade. Ninja are taught to put the mission above everything else so killing comrades was nothing new.

"Oh, I saw battle, too." The Uchiha replied in as casual a voice as a child could produce when talking about such an experience. Sure, Itachi actually managed to sound casual but his hands were clenched into tight fists, trembling slightly as they gripped his pajama pants. The Rinnegan user could just stare at the Sharingan wielder. He had not expected that. "I was watching from afar on top of a cliff, yes, and it was dark, but I saw it. The war. And when the battle ended, I went down to the field. So many bodies," a shudder ran through the smaller of the two early risers. "All that blood ... And i shed some of it, too." Nagato startled at this, gawking at the boy with trepidation. Itachi saw this and smiled sadly. "I would rather not talk about it, if you don't mind, Nagato-kun."

"Yes, I understand." The ginger hurried to reassure the child. "Sorry to make you so uncomfortable." They sat in silence for a long while, unsure as to what they were allowed to say now and which topics were best avoided. Pein had known Itachi was always avoiding unnecessary killing but he had never thought it to be because the teen had seen war and possibly killed at such a young age. It ought to have been traumatizing. The first kill was always the worst. Witnessing a war changed a person. Being in it reformed them completely. Is that how Itachi came to snap and kill his clansmen? Was he avenging his lost innocence and childhood? After all, no killer was a child, not anymore, anyway. But that somehow doesn't seem like Itachi's style. But the only thing other than becoming a mass murderer after the trauma of seeing war at such an age is to become a pacifist. That also doesn't fit in with Itachi's reputation. After all, a man who kills his own flesh and blood isn't exactly a peace lover.

His musings were interrupted when a yawning Kisame walked into the kitchen, still seeming out of it so he didn't notice his leader and little partner. However, Itachi noticed him and seemed to brighten up instantly and a small smile pulled across his pale lips. Completely understandable. Kisame was very fond of his partner and protective, too. Kids tended to feel it when someone means them harm or good will. Kisame would never hurt Itachi and his younger self seemed to have detected this. _That_ , or some form of an unconscious part of the teen Itachi was still aware of his surroundings and felt at ease with the man he trusted, in battle and in everything else.

When Kisame finally turned, he saw the child version of his partner and frowned for a second before remembering what had occurred yesterday and a friendly grin split his lips. "Good morning, Itachi-san. I hope you slept well."

It always fascinated Pein how his employees interacted, these two especially. Their dynamic was different from everyone else's. Sasori was many years older than Deidara and, following tradition, Sasori was the one who gave orders and Deidara followed. He even called the Akasuna Sasori no dana, or Sasori-dana. Hidan was, once again, many years younger than Kakuzu. Add in that Kakuzu was the first ever immortal kind of made it clear who was in charge, despite him being a lot less immortal than Hidan. Hidan cursed and complained but when it came down to it, he was still the one following Kakuzu's orders. Their private interactions weren't much different, for either team. Even in their relationships, Sasori and Kakuzu were the ones leading. They, after all, had more experience.

Then there was his number one team, Kisame and Itachi. They were the exception to all rules. Their dynamic was obvious and very surprising. After all, Kisame was a decade older than Itachi, bigger, physically stronger and had more chakra. His life as a ninja was also a lot longer than Itachi's, rather impressive, career. Yet it was clear who would win in their fight. It was clear who lead and who followed. What Itachi says is law for Kisame. An order from the Uchiha seemed to be higher in Kisame's priority list than even Pein's orders were. Where Itachi went, Kisame followed. Sure, Kisame was the one who always took a protective stance for his partner but Itachi was still the one leading. He didn't know if that would transcend even into a romantic relationship, should one ever develop between those two. He wouldn't be all that surprised. But that somehow still seemed ... too much. Then again, he wasn't one to judge such relationships. Konan was perhaps the one better suited for that. She was a yaoi fangirl and all that.

Instead, he observed the two partners. Despite Kisame being so much older than Itachi - now especially, when Itachi was eleven years younger than he usually was - the blue man still addressed his smaller partner with great respect and undying loyalty. The adoration in his eyes wouldn't be missed by even the blind. Itachi saw this as well, but perhaps he misunderstood it? He _was_ a child, after all.

"Good morning, Kisame. And yes, I slept quite well." The child replied still with that small smile and Kisame sat beside the prodigy. He looked at the eggs curiously before looking back at his partner.

"Woke up as early as ever?" Itachi just nodded and Kisame grinned and reached for the spatula to take some eggs, only to yelp when Itachi slapped his hand. "Itachi-san!" The blue man complained and said boy scowled at him.

"Wait for the rest."

"They won't wake up anytime soon, Itachi." Pein added, eying the breakfast and wondering if he can somehow snatch some of it away without getting slapped himself. "We may as well eat our portion now and leave the rest for the others."

"Thanks, honey," a sarcastic voice said from the entrance of the kitchen and Nagato repressed a flinch. Konan came in and sat next to him, a glare on her face. "I'm so glad you care for us so much."

"Um," was all the purple eyed man stuttered as his girlfriend continued glaring.

"What smells so good!?" Hidan's shouting saved Pein. "I'm fucking starving!"

"Must you be so loud so early in the morning?" That was Sasori, snapping at the zealot. The three grown up Akatsuki could just imagine the irritated look on his face.

"Why are we even awake now, un?" The sleepy blond asked, sounding as though he was about to just fall back asleep as he was walking down the stairs. Deidara was _not_ a morning person.

"Because time is money and you are waisting it by sleeping in. Kisame and Itachi can't go on missions so it's up to us to pick up their missions." Kakuzu logically and coldly stated, earning a groan from both Deidara and Hidan.

"Why the fuck do those two bastards even have so many damned missions on demand?"

"Because they are our best team," Kakuzu replied. "I personally think it might have to do a lot with their reputations from before joining the Akatsuki. After all, the weasel's body count records top even mine and I'm the oldest one here."

"You seem to be obsessed with him, un," Deidara commented and the other three snorted.

"Says the one who spends 20 hours of each day thinking up ways how you'd get back at him for beating you and making you join the Akatsuki." Sasori retorted just as they entered the kitchen, only to find themselves at the receiving end of three glares and one curious black eyed stare.

"Was it something that we said?"

00000

Later that afternoon, Pein was a bit surprised to hear a knock on his doors. He looked up from the pile of paperwork strewn across his desk and called out for whomever it was to come in, arching an eyebrow when he saw their littlest member entering the room with a tray on which he had placed two cups of tea and some biscuits, a hopeful look on that pale little face. "May I come in?"

Pein couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. The kid really was quite endearing. "Please do, Itachi." The boy walked quietly in and shut the door behind himself before gracefully jumping onto the seat in front of Pein's desk and placing the undisturbed tray on the desk. The Akatsuki leader watched all of this with an arched eyebrow before addressing the Uchiha. "What brings you here?"

"Konan-san said that you don't usually take breaks or come out to eat lunch due to work. I just wanted to bring you some refreshments and see if you needed any help."

Nagato's other eyebrow joined the first. Sure, this wasn't the first time Itachi pulled a stunt like this. The Uchiha tended to frown upon anyone who didn't treat their body right. Even Sasori, who needed no sleep nor nutrition, was no exception. The other Akatsuki members don't even notice it, but Itachi often places fruits and snacks around them whenever they are busy with something to the point of forgetting to eat, simply assuming that they had taken that food with them to eat later. Itachi knew how important it was to take care of one's body when someone is a ninja. One must be in perfect shape in order to survive missions.

Itachi had come to him with this offer a couple of times before, but he had always declined. Does his worrywart personality come from such a young age? "I don't think you'll find it all that fun. It's actually very dull."

Itachi shrugged and leaned in a bit closer to take a look at the paperwork, most of which were reports from previous missions or requests for new ones. Pein had trouble sorting out all the missions he now has to reassign from Itachi and Kisame to the other teams. A few of them will be especially tricky for anyone but those two to do. After all, one included interrogating a feudal lord for their client but there to be no traces of an interrogation, even in the man's mind. For that, the Sharingan would have been perfect, as only a few people even knew how to detect the after effects of those blood red eyes. _Especially_ if it was Itachi who cast those jutsus.

"Most people call boring what I consider fun or interesting." He looked down for a second to sigh. "I ... feel uncomfortable when I don't have something to occupy my mind with. It brings out so much thoughts from me that I often fall into a state of meditation so deep that it scares people with how long it takes them to bring me out of it."

"And what are these thought?" The ginger asked carefully, wondering if Itachi's psychopathic tendencies had shown so early on and if people had just ... missed them or assumed they were just by products of a genius child's mind. Now was his perfect chance to find out a bit more about his most deadly employee.

"What is a clan? What is a Village? What is a shinobi?" The little raven haired boy asked, one after the other. "Why do people fight? What is reality? Is it an illusion? Is there such a thing as fate? What is life? Does it have a meaning? What is death? Does _it_ have a meaning? Why is there war? What is _peace_?"

Nagato could feel that his jaw was unhinged as he stared at the Uchiha, a four year old boy, who had just rattled off some of the most philosophical questions Pein had ever heard. This ... he was not expecting. He was honestly expecting something a bit more childish or something far more _murderous_. For Itachi to have such thoughts as a child and for them to plague him ... _What_ was he thinking upon _now_ , eleven years later?

"You think abut this a lot?" He asked after he regained his composure. The boy nodded as he reached over to the biscuits and took one, nibbling on it serenely as he watched his elder. "How often? Since _when_?"

"Since a few months ago, when I saw the war."

This ... didn't make any sense anymore. If Itachi had really been pondering these things since he was so young, why would he become a Clan Killer ten years later? "Have you ever found answers to any of these questions?"

"A shinobi is he who endures and protects from the shadows, without recognition or fame. A Village is what must be protected, civilians who cannot protect themselves, comrades in arms and one big family. A clan is a group of people with the same blood flowing through their veins although they might not be a family."

"I don't understand that last one," the Uzumaki interrupted before his little companion could go on. He was truthfully a little overwhelmed by all the things he was hearing from a child of _four_ , never mind if it was Uchiha Itachi.

"Family is when people are close to one another, when there is understanding, respect and equality among all members involved. Because a clan has a hierarchy, it cannot be defined as a family. Friends are the family we choose. A clan's members might be related but they could be as close to each other as the ground and the sky, that is, not at all." Well, when you put it _that_ way, it sounded perfectly logical. And a toddler got this faster than most adults did.

"Did you find any other answers?" Who knew a conversation with someone twenty something years younger than you could be so stimulating?

Itachi shook his head a bit regretfully. "I'm still trying to figure the other things out."

Pein nodded, leaning back and studying the should be fifteen year old. "You're awfully smart, Itachi. Do you read a lot?"

"Hai," the blushing boy answered, still unused to the praise he gets. Nagato wondered if he'd ever really gotten used to it or if he'd just learned to cover his reactions to them. He watched as the boy took up his tea and blew away the steam before taking a sip. The beverage seemed to please him and he relaxed.

"I could show you later to the communal library we have here. You can read anything you like."

"I'd rather stay here for a while, if you don't mind." Itachi said hesitantly, a frown on his face. "Konan-san was right. You really _do_ look like you might need help to sort all of that out." The boy looked up from the paperwork to the ginger haired man. "I can help?"

"This is mission sorting. Very little of it has to do with numbers." Nagato warned but handed over a file to Itachi that had particularly been bugging him. He wanted Itachi's thoughts on it. It _was_ about genjutsu, his field of expertise. "And you'll need to acquaint yourself with the assets' abilities." He added, gesturing towards the files on everyone but Kisame and Itachi himself. The boy glanced at them before opening the first file, getting down to work. Pein watched him for a minute before returning to the matter of that interrogation of a feudal lord.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a soft but firm voice ordered: "Eat your biscuits and drink your tea."

00000

"Have any of you seen Itachi?" Kisame asked as dinner time slowly rolled by, the Akatsuki members slowly filing into the kitchen where Konan had just finished a delicious Italian meal none of them could pronounce correctly. "I haven't seen him since midday, after I showed him around a little bit."

"Last I know, he was with Pein." The only female in the organization answered, putting the pot on the table. Sasori and Deidara paused in their argument of what was the more artistic approach to setting a table to sniff at the delicious meal before getting right back to it. "But that was _hours_ ago." She huffed as she snatched the utensils from the artists and set up the table herself, like normal people do. "What _could_ they be doing?"

"Maybe Pein found a way to reverse the jutsu before it wore out?" Kakuzu halfheartedly suggested, scowling at the checkbook he had dared bring to the table. Konan forbade anything possibly work related being brought to the table, claiming for that to be the only time of day, other than sleeping (although it _has_ happened quite a lot of times then, too) that Pein wasn't surrounded by paperwork. If she allowed even _one_ of them to bring work to dinner, Pein would claim he, too, had the right to do just _one little thing_ that would be turned into a mountain of paperwork in a matter of minutes. So Konan forbade it. The glare she sent Kakuzu's way should have reminded him of that. But he was far too immersed in the ways to save money from being unnecessarily spent to notice he's made a taboo.

"Unfortunately, no, I didn't." They all jumped when Pein suddenly spoke from the doorway, where he was standing with a slightly tired looking Itachi in his arms. "But I _did_ achieve a miracle." He boasted proudly, hefting the child a bit higher to indicate they should know Itachi had something to do with it, too. "With Itachi's here help, I just managed to finish _all_ of my paperwork and am, by some blessed being's grace, granted a night to just relax." He looked towards the shyly smiling child and a smile split his own lips. "Maybe I should have accepted Itachi's offer from the beginning."

"You finished _all_ of your paperwork!?" An incredulous Konan asked, nearly dropping a plate had Deidara not reacted fast enough and caught it before it could break. "But there were mountains of it!" She looked towards their employee turned child and just stared at him in awe. "How?"

"Itachi here can practically scan through files. I timed him." Nagato said as he placed Itachi into his seat next to Kisame, who smiled warmly at the boy and Itachi returned it with a small smile of his own. "He reads through a page of small print, fully filled out with data, in the span of 38.6 seconds.'' He looked proudly down at his youngest Akatsuki member. ''Because of him scanning through all the papers, I was able to finish so quickly. He'd just summarize what the papers said and we would then discuss the best course of action. Which brings me to then next topic. I've got a couple of missions for you all. You start in the morning.''

''He helped you sort out the mission?'' Konan asked, even more incredulous and now everyone was staring at the serenely eating child.

''Yes. He's quite the strategist, even at this age.'' The pierced man said, starting with his own dinner. ''His mind seems to think on a whole different level. He _needs_ to be distracted by hard work. His mind ... wanders in directions that might make an ordinary man go mad.''

Kisame could only nod to this, well aware of that specific trait in his partner. It's kind of the reason they could finish any written report about their missions within seconds of getting it. Itachi reads it faster than scanners, unless his eyes ache that day due to overuse of the Sharingan. And the whole strategy thing ... Well, Itachi _was_ a genius. He planned out all their manuevars out on the battlefield when they're on missions and his plans never failed. If he didn't have something to occupy his thoughts, Itachi tended to start reciting old philosophers just to have something to do. He usually did this when he was particularly exhausted after a mission. Kisame would then, for once, be the one listening to his young partner as Itachi recited every philosophical theory ever made, no matter from what culture or time period. It's how Kisame got into reading philosophical texts. Besides, he liked occasionally getting into debates with Itachi and had actually managed to win two so far. Sure, once was when Itachi had overused his Mangekyo Sharingan and had collapsed from exhaustion while Kisame was carrying him, but the other time Itachi had been perfectly awake. And if Itachi wasn't exhausted and had nothing to do, he usually prompted Kisame to speak about ... Anything, really. Just so that the weasel could focus on something other than his thoughts. Thoughts that surrounded his little brother, whom he had left behind, his family and clan, whom he had killed, and his village, whose people hate him.

"I'm nothing special," Itachi mumbled from besides him and Kisame turned around to face the little boy, who was frowning at his meal. "If anything, I'm a freak that I can't shut off my thoughts."

"If anything, you would be a freak if you could." Sasori said with a snort. "The brain is constantly being stimulated and processing those stimulations. Even when we are asleep, we are processing and dissecting information or even dreaming. Thoughts never stop. Only an idiot can shut off his thought process."

"What about meditation?" Kakuzu inquired, interested in Sasori's opinion. He saw that Itachi had eaten his vegetables and pushed a few more into Itachi's plate, earning a small smile from the child. Kakuzu wondered why he had such a soft spot for children. Maybe one of his five hearts was defective because it belonged to a overly emotional person? "The mind supposedly goes blank if you're doing it right."

"Still processing, just not as obviously." The puppet master said confidently and they broke into a debate over it while at the table, dinner forgotten. Itachi just watched them with big eyes and attentively listened to everything they said, oblivious to how his intense observation of the two only made them all the more fired up to see who is right.

After dinner Kisame took Itachi up to their shared room, watching the delighted look that crossed the boy's face when he saw all the scrolls his older self has collected or taken with him from the Uchiha Compound. The little raven ran from one shelf to the other, scanning all the titles of the books and growing more and more excited, even pulling a few out to skim through them. Kisame enjoyed it when those dark eyes, usually so glum and serious, shined with happiness.

"I can read all of this?" The boy asked hopefully, looking up at the freakishly tall man. "I can really read it all? Your partner won't mind?"

Well, seeing as all but three books were Itachi's, there was really no problem if Itachi himself were to read them. But little Itachi still didn't know what was going on and he didn't know that he was supposed to be about a decade older than he currently was. So Kisame just grinned at the boy, scooped him up and brought him eye level with Itachi's absolute favorites. "He won't mind. He really likes kids. Has a little brother he adores very much, but the little prick doesn't know how to appreciate it."

Itachi tilted his head in confusion at Kisame's bitterness, the blue man always having been so gentle and caring and happy around him ...

Kisame saw his expression and shook off all of his hate towards Uchiha Sasuke, who as far as this Itachi was concerned didn't even exist yet, and instead focused on his little partner. "Why don't you chose one book and read it before bedtime?"

Itachi happily nodded and returned to studying the bookcase, missing the fond but slightly sad look Kisame had on his face as he knew that this was possibly the first time Itachi actually got to act close to his age.

00000

On the morning of his third day with the Akatsuki, Itachi found out that they were an organization of extremely powerful ninja completely by accident as he went to find Kakuzu and ask if he could help with balancing the organization's checkbook, only to find the miser sleeping slumped in his desk chair, the checkbook open for Itachi to browse. That's how he found that the missions these people took were SS-class and that meant they had to be pretty good, especially if they had such a number of missions and all were successful, if the checkbook was constantly being filled up with money. Their clientèle list was colorful at best, ranging from Kages of other villages, to feudal lords to small time criminals with a lot of cash.

Kakuzu was just damn glad he woke up before Itachi could open any other checkbook from the pile on his table. He would rather not have to explain to their Leader why itachi was suddenly afraid of them all if he took a look at what some of those missions had consisted of. Pein had been awake to monitor which mission reports and requests Itachi got to read. Kakuzu had nearly caused them a lot of trouble for not locking his and Hidan's door.

He picked the little Uchiha up and turned him around so they were face to face, Itachi not startled by the gesture and Kakuzu wondering if _anything_ could get a reaction out of this kid. "What are you doing here this early, bozu?"

Itachi gave him a glare almost worthy of his older self at the last comment. "I am not a brat or a kid and would appreciate it if you'd stop addressing me as such." He said sounding almost formal before letting it drop and going back to answering Kakuzu's question. "I wanted to see if you needed any help with all this." He gestured to the checkbooks and the papers strewn all across the ancient ninja's desk. "Maybe if you had help you could sleep in your own bed?" It was more of a challenge than an offer, daring Kakuzu to deny him the right to help him.

Kakuzu denied him. "Absolutely not. You heard Konan." He said almost defensively when a fine black eyebrow arched above coal eyes. "You're supposed to do kiddie things while you're ... here." He almost said 'like this' but caught himself. Itachi arched an eyebrow at him. "You know, play with dolls and watch cartoons and stuff."

"I prefer more stimulating activities, such as math and reading."

"There must be something _seriously_ wrong with you if that's the case." The miser said in a deadpan. "I like numbers that represent cash, too, but even I sometimes hate counting it." Itachi just shrugged as best as he could in Kakuzu's hold.

"Okaa-san says it's because I'm too smart for my own age or something." The little raven replied, sounding disapproving of the thought that he was a kid. Seeing as he had seen war at four, he might not be a kid anymore by some definitions. But Kakuzu wasn't going to allow _that_ to be his defense when Pein and Konan came to beat the shit out of him later for not letting Itachi have his few days of actual childhood. He swore those two acted like the Uchiha's parents at times. "I just want to help. You look dead tired."

Kakuzu sighed before placing the little genius in his lap, picking up a checkbook that he actively dreaded opening each time. Itachi curiously read the tittle, 'Everyday Expenses of the Akatsuki', written in a neat, elegant handwriting before leafing through it when Kakuzu put it on the table. A fine black eyebrow arched when he saw that some days, the expenses covered new wood (for Sasori's puppets), new clay (for Deidara), paper (for Konan), a few different headache painkillers (mostly for Pein, but everyone snuck a few pills for themselves), raw meat (both Zetsu and Hidan were ... strange like that), new cleaning rags and weapons polish (Kisame's hobbies were weird), occasionally a few new kunai or shuriken sets (Itachi tended to come back without all of his original arsenal from time to time), ordinary things like weapons sharpeners, food, clothing once every other month (Kakuzu didn't let them buy new clothes unless the old ones were no longer usable) and other oddities. Shampoo seems to be a thing, since three different shampoos were bought once a month, and the place seemed to always have dango (Itachi's sweet tooth was _never_ ignored; no one wanted a pissed off Mangekyo Sharingan user to put them into a coma) and lollipops (Tobi was extra annoying when he ran out). And then there were expenses just labeled 'damage control' with each member's name by a certain amount of money or a piece of furniture. And there was 'damage' where there were labels like fires, floods, falling trees, falling idiots?

Itachi turned his head to look at the grumbling thread master as he started running the calculations, cursing when he didn't get the digits right on his calculator. The boy looked back to where he had poised his pen and saw that it was for something Hidan had done that had damaged the sofa and quickly ran the calculations in his head. Why or how Hidan damaged the sofa 46 times that month, he didn't ask.

"60,560,320 ryo." Kakuzu looked down at the kid when Itachi spoke, frowning when he didn't immediately realize what the Uchiha was talking about. Itachi shrugged and pointed to the calculations he was running. "If you spent on each repair 1,316,528.6956521 ryo, then that is 60,560,320 ryo in total."

The miser frowned at the child before returning to his calculator, finding that the boy was right as soon as he got his numbers right. He arched an eyebrow at the four year old, who had taken his pen out of his hands and was now running the calculations for all the other expenses. "That was pretty quick."

"There are over a hundred households on the Uchiha Compound grounds, some holding two families and almost each family has at least four members, usually due to elders. A third of those people work in the Konoha Police Force, but are currently at war. The rest have their own businesses or are children. Rare few work as chuunin and jonin and the children are mostly genin, running around as messengers. Because we are at war, no one has the time to run the bills and balance the checkbooks for their own household, let alone for the entire compound. Chichiue knew that I could at least run ours while he and Okaa-san were fighting, after Minato-sama ordered me to be sent back home from the camp," the child explained as he continued the calculations, finishing a page for three sentences he said. Kakuzu couldn't help but watch in awe. "So I balanced our checkbook but soon noticed that nobody else seemed to be doing theirs so I took it upon myself to do those, too. And when everyone noticed that I was good at it, they just let me do it, knowing that everything will be in order. Chichiue was proud when he heard about it but Okaa-san had been worried I was overtaxing myself. In truth, I am bored at home so this is one of the few fun things I get to do."

"That's the longest I've ever heard you talking in one instance." The former Hidden Waterfall ninja observed, earning a blush from the kid. He'd been doing that a lot, too. Kakuzu wondered if he was so deprived of normal interaction that all of this attention was a bit overwhelming for the prodigy. Such a shame. The kid appeared very nice to be around.

"I know I am not the most social person," Itachi said, ducking his head. "But this is the first time I spoke with someone who isn't going to treat me like a kid. I like it here. People actually _listen_ to what I say." Kakuzu suddenly felt a strange pang that must have come from that defective, overly emotional heart, when he realized they had not even given the teen Itachi a chance to say anything. Not really. They just put words into his mouth and acted according to preset expectations. Child Itachi was an extremely observant person. The fifteen year old Itachi must have caught on from the beginning and had just let them think what they wished, never stating his own opinions to anyone else but Kisame.

"Akatsuki is full of ... _special_ people." Kakuzu answered vaguely, watching as the checkbook he hated doing was finished. "I'm sure you fit right in."

And because the brat's smile was so damn cute, Kakuzu let him run the calculations for the rest of the safer checkbooks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Akatsuki's Week With Baby Itachi**

 **Summary: Orochimaru tries to control Itachi with a jutsu, but it backfires and the Akatsuki are left with a few problems on their less than care-capable hands. Thank Kami it was reversible!**

A few hours later, when everyone was gathering for brunch (even S-ranked criminals liked to sleep in every once in a while), a frazzled Kisame walked into the kitchen, scanning the room for his small partner. "Have you guys seen Itachi-san?"

Konan frowned from where she and Deidara were making pancakes, one of the few breakfast foods everyone liked and the bomber never blew up. "No. He stayed the night with you, right?"

"Yes, but he was gone this morning so I checked everywhere but didn't want to invade anyone's privacy so I came down here to ask you if he came back to you guys." The blue man answered, running a hand through his blue hair in worry, wondering where his little partner could have possibly disappeared to.

"He wasn't there when I came out of the shower," the kunoichi said, a worried look coming over her own face. Sure, there was no way Orochimaru - or anyone - could have gotten into their lair and taken the child without them noticing, but there was a number of other possibilities she'd rather not ponder. "Maybe he's with Pein now?"

"Maybe who's with me?" Said man asked as he walked into the room, finger combing his damp hair from his own shower.

"Itachi." Sasori answered, setting the table for the two cooks. "Have you seen him?"

"Not since last night, no." The ginger answered, a frown coming over his face before hjs purple eyes narrowed into a glare. "Don't tell me you _lost_ him?"

"No, he's still in the hideout," Kisame quickly replied, reassuring their Leader so no punishment will be delivered. "I can sense his chakra around but I can't seem to pinpoint him."

"Meaning he's upstairs, un." Deidara concluded, knowing that the upstairs were shielded by seals so that if someone _were_ to manage to enter their base without them noticing, they won't know immediately where to look. It prevented potential assassins from sneaking into their rooms while they slept. "But where?"

"You don't think ... he walked in on Hidan doing a ritual and is now hiding, do you?" Konan asked, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. Kisame's face suddenly settled into a scary glare.

"He better not or I am shredding Hidan to pieces and dumping him in a dumpster." The blue man growled out, turning around to head towards the miser and zealot's room, only to run into said zealot a few steps later.

"Why would you fucking dump me in a Jashin damned dumpster?" The silver haired man arched an eyebrow, noticing Kisame's unusually dark expression and the glares he was receiving from the others. "What? What are you pussies all staring at? Enjoying the view? Well, take a fucking picture, it will fucking last longer."

"Hidan, did you preform any rituals on base?" Pein growled out his question dangerously and Hidan frown in confusion.

"No. I fucking had to trek three miles from here to do my ritual. _Three_ hellish _miles_! I had to wake up before the ass crack of dawn! This is so unfair! You're all disrespecting my religion! Jashin will have your souls for this!"

"So you've been out the entire morning?" Sasori interrupted before a religious rant can _really_ begin.

"That's what I fucking said."

"Then where is Itachi-san!?"

"Shh!" A voice hissed behind Hidan and they all turned their attention to Kakuzu as he walked into the room. They sagged in relief when they saw a sleeping Itachi in his arms, his little head resting in the crook of the mummy-like ninja's head. "You'll wake the bozu up."

"Why was he with you and why does he look bone tired?" Kisame asked as he stepped forwards, planning on taking his partner from the miser, only for his hands to be slapped away. By a big file all of the Akatsuki recognized and dearly hated. It was the report that signaled how much will be deducted from their pay for the damages they have done to the hideout during the previous month.

"He snuck into my room and insisted on acting as my calculator for balancing the checkbooks and solving other financial problems. Kid's definitely a genius.." The oldest in the group replied, handing the file to Kisame, grabbing some food from Deidara's hands, much to the blond's immediate protests, and backing out of the room slowly. "He fell asleep when I started writing up your pays. I'll be going now. The stock market needs a little Uchiha-touch added to it."

"Get back in here with that child, Kakuzu!" Pein ordered and the miser made a run for it, Konan, Pein and Kisame hot on his tail. The chase woke Itachi up and he blinked a few times before slipping out of Kakuzu's hold without anyone even noticing in their chase, walking calmly over to the table and jumping into his seat. The four ninja were too busy duking it out to notice that the boy had escaped their conflict and was now yawning, waiting for food to be served. Deidara put a plate of pancakes in front of him and the sleepy Uchiha thanked him before starting to eat. The two artists regarded the raven haired one for a short while before Deidara broke the silence.

"Itachi, what do you think of art, un?" Sasori glared at the blond but was ignored by said blond in favor of the answer from the _only_ member that never commented on art at all. Sasori would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about the answer but he knew how much Deidara disliked the elder Uchiha brother and that whatever Itachi said could set the sculptor off like one of his clay bombs.

"Art?" Itachi repeated, looking up from his food, blinking his big eyes at the bomber.

"Yes, un. What do you think is _real_ art, un?"

Itachi paused to think over his answer before giving a shy smile. "I think art is the ability to cause a certain emotion in another person. When an artist manages to cause emotion in a spectator, I believe they have achieved their goal. Happiness, content, anger, disgust, awe, sadness, fear, excitement, love, sometimes even hatred and so much more ... As there are countless emotions we can't even name, I believe there are countless forms of art. And they can be brief or lasting impressions, just like art. Art is beauty in the eye of the beholder." He told them confidently. "And everyone will have their own interpretation. Tastes are not to be discussed." Itachi quoted, completely disarming Deidara's incoming rant about how art was a bang and all that jazz. In fact, the former Iwa nin was gawking at the boy, much to Sasori's amusement, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed with the well thought out and mature answer.

After a moment, Deidara shook his shock off like a dog would water from its fur before snatching up the child from his seat, dangling Itachi in front of him in a very awkward manner. Sasori instantly rose to his feet, unsure what the crazy blond will do now. "Deidara," he warned but his partner slash lover ignored him, focused on the Uchiha. His sudden excited grin meant trouble for everyone.

"I'm going to show you that art is a bang, un!" He exclaimed, taking the boy with him as he ran past the still squibbing quartet before Sasori could stop him.

The last he heard of them before they disappeared was Itachi's displeased and indignant shout of "But I'm not finished eating yet!"

00000

Deidara returned a hour before lunch with Itachi, looking pretty smug about having managed to entertain the Uchiha for three hours with his explosions deep in the woods and far away enough from the hideout that they hadn't been able to find them. Itachi had watched with the same excitement any ordinary child would as the clay sculptures came to life and exploded a few feet away from him, never powerful enough to hurt him and a bit of flair added in since Deidara was looking to impress, not detonate. And he had greatly enjoyed Itachi's bell like, infectious laughter as adrenaline from being so close to something so potentially dangerous coursed through his small body.

When they returned, though, a mother henning Kisame took Itachi _away_ from the crazy firecracker and into their room while Pein chewed both Deidara and Kakuzu out for the way they were acting around Itachi. Konan then berated him as well for using Itachi to sort through his paperwork. Sasori and Hidan just watched the show from afar, enjoying their partners' and Leader's misery.

When lunch came around, the shark returned with his little weasel partner on his shoulders, the two of them talking about the sea and Kisame's home village, Itachi having happily told Kisame about Koniha and the Uchiha Clan. Kisame was rather impressed how a four year old could so easily takk about their clan and village without spilling a single vital piece of information about them in the process. Then again, this _was_ Itachi-san. He knew how to say everything he needed to say without saying anything he mustn't say. It could be confusing as fuck but the Uchiha was who he was. He wasn't going to say anything about the Leaf that could harm his village.

Itachi liked dango. It was a well known fact. _Little, four year old_ Itachi _loved_ dango and would stop at nothing to get it, something Kisame and Konan learned that very day. Konan had just returned with new supplies for the next week or so when Kisame and Itachi entered the room. Itachi's little eyes, sharp even without his Sharingan, had focused in on the sweets that Konan had bought him for after lunch and asked if he could have one. Konan had answered that he could have all the sweets he wants but only _after_ lunch, so he wouldn't spoil his dinner. Not even Itachi's pout would get him his favorite treat so he told Kisame to get one for him. The shark had seen the warning glint in Konan's eyes and sighed, telling Itachi it was for his own - and Kisame's - good. Itachi had then jumped off of Kisame's shoulder and deftly climbed the counter, startling the two adults with his fine mastery of chakra at even such a young age. He managed to get a hold of one of the dango before Konan snapped out of it and snatched the kid up with lightning reflexes, berating Itachi for such childish behavior. She forbade him from using chakra suction to do that again and put the dango in the cupboard overhead, closing and locking it.

Itachi had glared at her and at Kisame in betrayal before leaving the room, frustrated. Hadn't they told him he was _allowed_ to act like a kid, to _be_ a kid here? Why was what he did suddenly so bad? He had been acting his own age for once! Well, he guessed most kids his age weren't able to climb things with only the use of their chakra. He couldn't help it, though. He had learned that skill for a _reason_! He lived alone in the Uchiha main house for weeks on end at times. He _needed_ to know how to reach foods and other things in high places after his mother left to help in the war efforts. He couldn't ask his uncles and aunts or cousins all the time. He was supposed to be the future head of the clan! They were supposed to rely on him one day. He can't appear week before them at least.

Itachi sighed, on the verge of grumbling to himself about how mean Konan and Kisame were. He would go ask Nagato-kun or Kakuzu to get him the dango but Kakuzu would no doubt want help with the checkbooks again or be too busy with them to help Itachi while Nagato-kun wouldn't disobey his girlfriend, even though he was the Leader. It's something Itachi learned a few months ago, when his father came back home due to a mild injury before he went back to war. His mother had been able to make his father submit due to something Itachi still didn't understand. He had asked her later, knowing his father would be too embarrassed to talk about it, but she had been embarrassed, too, saying Itachi was too young to know about such things. Whatever it was, Itachi had noticed that most women seemed to be able to do the same with their partners, too, so he guessed Konan-san did so, too, with Nagato-kun.

"Hey, brat." Itachi looked up with a scowl when he heard the calm voice of Sasori while the puppet master walked by in the hallway, heading towards the kitchen. "What's got you so glum?"

"Nothing," the child replied, resisting the urge to pout again. Chichiue said it was childish an unworthy of an Uchiha. Especially not the Uchiha heir, which Itachi was, despite him being only four.

"You know where Konan is?" The redhead asked, wondering what the little one was thinking about. Who knew a kid could have such a good poker face. Sure, it was still nothing in the level Sasori and especially the older Itachi had mastered but it was still pretty damn good.

Itachi tilted his head to the side, not answering but rather ... studying the Akasuna. There was something ... odd about the redhead. The Uchiha _swore_ he saw little blue strings running through and over his limbs, as though strings for a, ironically, puppet master to pull on and control. Black eyes widened as something occurred to the Uchiha. "Sasori-san, how do you move?"

Sasori arched a fine red eyebrow at the little raven. So he noticed he was a puppet himself, huh? It had taken the others a few months of knowing him to see it. Perceptive as always, Uchiha Itachi was. "I use small amounts of my chakra to form really thin treads and attach them to the limbs of all my puppets. In the case of my own body, the strings don't lead to my fingers but rather my brain, so they function like nerves in a human would."

"Amazing." The boy breathed. "But how do you move your other puppets at all with just a few fingers?"

The puppet master didn't know where these questions were coming from or why Itachi wanted to know but he indulged in summoning a puppet from one of his scrolls and showing Itachi how everything worked. He enjoyed the awe he inspired and guessed Itachi's definition of art might be quite accurate. But he didn't have time to really get into the matter, as Leader-sama was waiting and he had other things to do. "Do you know where Konan is? Leader-sama wants to see her and I have other things I must attend to. We can continue this conversation later, okay?"

The dark haired child nodded and pointed towards the kitchen, just as Kisame came walking from that direction in search of his partner. Itachi glared at him, bid farewell to Sasori and continued down the hall. Sasori watched in amusement and sympathy as Kisame deflated, wondering what the shark had done to earn the kid's ire. Even Deidara got along with the kid. It must have been something really stupid. He wished Kisame luck and went on to find Konan, bringing her to Leader's office and going outside to train with Deidara.

Itachi, meanwhile, had snuck into the artists' room and had opened Sasori's spare puppets closet, finding a rather large collection. He tried out a few times to do as Sasori had and make those chakra strings but he only managed after a twentieth try or so. He still needed another ten minutes to get the basic movements of the puppet. It wasn't anything graceful or deadly like Sasori's control over his puppets were but Itachi figured it will have to do. He poked his head out of the room and felt around with his chakra as best as he could and, finding the hallway clear, he dashed towards the kitchen, his senses on high alert.

Once he was in the kitchen, he focused on maintaining the chakra strings, a far more taxing task than Sasori made it appear, and moved the puppet upwards until it was level with the cupboard containing his prize. He ignored the slowly boiling water for the stew Konan had been in the middle of making when she had been called away and instead made the puppet lift one of its arms and force open the lock with fumbling, wooden fingers. He moved the puppet to open the cupboard and take out three dango sticks before hastily closing the cupboard and rushing out of the room, puppet now in flying after him when he heard Konan walking back in. He hid inside Konan and Pein's room, knowing they will think he would never dare come into the room of the person about to chase him around for this little mischief. He ignored Konan's voice calling out for him and he ignored it twice as much when it was joined by Kisame, the traitor. Itachi just set down his puppet of choice on the bed Konan and Nagato had placed in their room for him and actually sat on the couple's big bed, contentedly eating his dango. When he was done, he ft rather sleepy and just laid down, falling asleep instantly, dango sticks still in hand.

00000

"What's with all the yelling?" Sasori asked in a bored tone of voice when he and Deidara returned for lunch. Konan had gotten everyone to join in on her search party for the young Uchiha after an hour of searching for him alone and not finding him anywhere. They were actually starting to worry. Again.

"What did Itachi-chan do, un?" The blond bomber asked with a curious voice, having witnessed just how polite and mild the child actually was. Mischief didn't go along with the mature Itachi they all saw in both the four year old and the fifteen year old.

"Konan wouldn't fucking give Itachi dango so the little bastard threw a bitch-fit and fucking broke the Jashin damned cupboard, how we still don't have a fucking clue, before hiding somewhere and we can't find him." Hidan oh so helpfully explained, glaring at the purplish-blue haired girl like it was all her fault.

"How did he reach the cupboard?" Sasori wondered.

"Chakra suction, un," Deidara guessed but Pein shook his head.

"None of his chakra touched an object in there. Not even the lock of the cupboard." The ginger haired man said with a sigh. "There's actually close to no chakra traces in the kitchen at all, so he hadn't jumped up either. And he didn't use kunai to climb up. Only the lock itself is damaged."

"If he was this tricky as a kid, no wonder he became such a splendid ninja." Sasori mused to himself with a shake of his head. "Did you check _all_ the rooms?"

"Yeah. Sorry for going into your room without your permission, though." Konan apologized, running a hand through her hair, which had become frazzled an hour ago.

"I'm not!" Hidan exclaimed, grinning at Sasori. "You have quite the doll collection, Sasori. Do you fucking play with them often?" He mocked, causing the redhead to narrow his eyes.

"Why were you going through my stuff, Hidan?"

"I wasn't. Your closet was fucking open when I came in and I just took the opportunity to see what's inside. Privacy freak."

"Sasori-dana never leaves his closet open, un." Deidara said, catching on to what might have happened. "It would seem Itachi-chan managed to get in there by himself."

"He's not in there now." The silver haired man said, crossing his arms.

"He's not in our room, either." Kisame said, scratching the back of his head in confusion. Pein's eyes suddenly lit up.

"I think I know where he is." He said, turning on his heel and heading straight for his and Konan's bedroom, intent on finding the boy. The rest followed, interested with how this was going to turn out, Hidan walking at Pein's heels like a lost puppy. When they arrived at the door of the founders' bedroom, Pein opened the door without knocking, only to curse and duck as three seemingly senbon flew through the air. Hidan cursed up a storm as one hit his jugular, one his forehead and one went straight through his heart. He fell back into Kakuzu's arms, his cursing only getting louder. Had he been anyone else, he would be dead right now. Death by dango sticks. What an embarrassment. "Itachi, what the hell!?"

"Gomen," the sleepy child said as he rubbed his eyes from his nap, having reacted instinctively when the door had been so rudely thrown open.

"Is this where you have been this whole time?" The Leader asked incredulously, calmly walking over to Itachi abd picking him up. When he felt the boy snuggle against his chest, Pein was about to let the matter drop but Sasori's exclamation had him rethinking it.

"Is that one of my puppets!?" And indeed it was, carefully draped over the smaller bed. Itachi nodded and Sasori turned calculative eyes on him. "Did you use it to get to the dango?" He asked, pointing to where Deidara and Konan were taking out the three sticks out of Hidan, who was gagged by Kakuzu so he didn't traumatize the boy. Said four year old just nodded again, not fully awake yet. He didn't see how everyone paused in what they were doing to gawk at him, desperately wanting to go back to sleep but knowing that it was rude to fall asleep on someone.

"I'm never denying him dango again if he'd do all of this for it." Was all Konan said and the others nodded in agreement.

Itachi just continued rubbing his eyes.

00000

"Yo, asshole," Hidan greeted that night when Itachi walked into the living room, once again dressed in his pajamas. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I wasn't sleepy." The boy replied, climbing onto the couch to sit next to the Jashinist, turning curious eyes to the screen. "What are you watching?"

"Some horror, gore flick with lots and lots of screaming and blood." The pink eyed man replied, studying the kid for a while. This kid never ceased to surprise them. From chakra suction - only three saw that, so far - to chakra strings, this kid had better chakra control than most adults. They didn't know if it was because grown up Itachi is still dormant somewhere inside of him or if it was because Itachi had always been just that great. "A kind of movie you probably shouldn't be watching."

"I saw war. I don't think this will affect me as much." Was the calm reply, Itachi snuggling up to Hidan's warmth like a cat. "Blood in real life is always worse."

"You've been near freshly spilled blood before?" That surprised Hidan. He himself had first been near spilled blood when he was ten and had killed for the first time when he was eleven. He knew Kisame, Pein and Konan had definitely been near spilled blood long before that age, what with Kisame being a ninja from the infamous Bloody Mist and the other two being war orphans. Kakuzu, Sasori and Deidara, he didn't know about, but he had thought at least Itachi had seen blood spilled later in his life. Then again, the kid had been ANBU at the age when Hidan had first killed. Of course he had seen blood spilled before Hidan. He had probably killed before then, too.

"I spilled it." The raven replied casually, not even flinching when the villain in the film slaughtered three women, all three screaming and dying gruesome deaths. Hidan paled and it wasn't from the movie.

"W-what?"

Itachi looked up at him and the look in his eyes would have been enough to forever dry up Hidan's thirst for blood and killing. They were large and would have been innocent had they not been as red as the blood they were talking about, two tomoe lazily spinning around his pupil. In those powerful eyes of the Uchiha prodigy, Hidan saw unmatched pain, a lost innocence that should not have been lost for years to come. Itachi looked empty like this. Like the blood he spilled had drained the life out of him. His eyes were so _cold_ , not at all like the cool, indifferent looks he shoots everyone.

"A few months ago, while I was still with father on the battlefield, in the camp, he took me down to the war zone. Well, actually," the boy looked away, those deadly eyes focusing on the acted out massacre. Hidan wondered if it was safe to let someone who had massacred their own family to watch such a movie. For all of them. "He told me to come there by myself. I watched as they fought until dawn. There were bodies everywhere ... " The boy's eyes were hazy as he recalled, the tomoe spinning faster, more dangerously. "And at dawn, I went down there. The battle was over. We won. Iwagakure's ninja had left. There were dead, dying and injured everywhere. A man called out for water and I ran over to give him some, but he thought I was a ninja and jumped up to try and kill me." Itachi brought his knees up to his chest, squeezing tight, his fists white from how hard he was holding onto his arms. "I slashed his throat, a nice, easy and quick kill. He died in seconds. My father told me that people kill each other needlessly in war when I asked, that war was warriors killing each other for no reason other than because the higher ups wanted more power." The boy let out a shuddering breath and Hidan wished he was better with kids so he could somehow comfort him without it seeming awkward. "I hate war. I would do everything to stop it." His eyes flashed, the tomoe spinning incredibly fast for one circle before slowing down and fading back to black slowly. The boy looked up at Hidan, a small smile on his face. "But Akatsuki is working towards peace, too, so I have nothing to worry about."

Hidan was struck dumb by such innocence as Itachi once again turned to look forwards, not watching the movie but rather gazing into the distance with those seemingly all seeing eyes of his.

"I will train hard so I can become as strong as you guys and help you achieve peace." The little Uchiha declared with determination. "It's a goal worth fighting and dying for. Peace."

"Yeah," the Jashinist said, drawing the little Sharingan user closer to himself. "I guess it is." Even though he was a true believer in the way of Jashin, he still liked the thought of not having to fight from time to time. Just a chance to laze about with Kakuzu in bed or hang out with the other Akatsuki members. That was a very nice thought. But this conversation brought up a question that no one had ever been able to answer.

Why was Itachi in the Akatsuki?

It was obvious the guy wasn't so big on killing and world domination and he hated illusions, working to always see through them so he _must_ have known that the peace Pein promised wasn't the real peace he obviously craved. What was he doing in the Akatsuki then? Did he have nothing better to do?

"Blood doesn't splatter like that from a cut throat," the displeased comment brought Hidan back to reality and he looked down to his scowling movie companion. He looked to the screen where he saw what had the Uchiha so pouty and he couldn't help but snicker. Sure, this boy had killed at four for the first time but he was still not an expert. That will probably come years later, when he joins the ANBU. He was still an amateur right now and Hidan felt it his responsibility to give Itachi a crash course on all the ways to slit throats and the way they bled afterwards.

Screw Pein and Konan and Kisame mother henning the boy. He had seen and done far worse than they thought at this age. And while Hidan would actually give anything to forget the moment of dawning realization that Itachi already wasn't so innocent, he knew he couldn't rewind time to stop Itachi from growing up so fast.

Perhaps he could actually treat the kid like a kid while he was like this. This was a second chance for Itachi to have a childhood, even if it only turned out to be temporary.

00000

At two in the morning, Itachi woke up from his spot leaning on the snoring Hidan, the two having fallen asleed while watching the SAW marathon. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before sitting up, trying to ignore Hidan's loud snores. He knew he would never go back to sleep with how loud the silver haired man was so he got off the couch silently and headed towards his room. It was too dark for him to clearly see so he kept close to the walks, holding on to the railing as he climbed the stairs and once again touching the wall as he headed towards his and Kisame's room.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when thunder grumbled outside, cursing his bad luck. Just great. He hated thunder and lightning, ever since he saw the war especially. The lightning hurt his eyes and the thunder reminded him of the sounds of battle. He knew he'll have to get over it at some point but that point still wasn't here. He hurried towards the bedroom and quickly got in, closing the door silently. He was relieved to see that the window had the blinds closed and the curtains drawn, at least stopping lightning from hurting his eyes. He started walking towards his bed when he heard the thunder outside yet again. He couldn't help but flinch and he looked enviously towards his roommate, who was sleeping like a log.

Then he got an idea, an indulgence he hadn't gotten to enjoy since he was two. He looked around, as if expecting someone to be watching him, before he deftly climbed up onto the blue man's bed, snuggling up close to Kisame while making sure not to disturb the shark. Kisame just mumbled something in his sleep before his large arms snatched Itachi up and drew him into his embrace. Itachi ignored the little squeak of surprise he gave and instead cuddled up closer to the man he had known at first sight would protect him. When thunder rolled above the hideout again, Itachi didn't even flinch, enjoying the warmth and the smell of the sea that Kisame was emitting. A small smile spread across pale lips and the Uchiha easily fell asleep.

And when Kisame woke up the next morning to the sight of his little partner cuddled up in his arms, he was even more love struck than before.

00000

Later that afternoon, good news finally reached the hideout in the form of the returned Zetsu and Tobi. They have apparently found Orochimaru and had managed to get out of him that the jutsu was incomplete and will wear off after a week before the snake Sannin escaped them.

"It was supposed to be a mind control technique, something that will last more than long enough for Orochimaru to take Itachi's body," Zetsu had explained to the other members of the Akatsuki, Konan off playing with Itachi to distract him. " **But he had messed up somewhere and had ended up turning Itachi into a child.** He then tried taking Itachi with him but Itachi is apparently a splendid fighter at this age already. **He stabbed Orochimaru and the bastard had to regenerate before escaping. He started researching the jutsu he used a bit more and found out it was temporary and lasts only a week.** When we found him, he was planning on trying to kidnap Itachi, but I think he won't do that now. **Not after we told him that we were taking care of him**. Not after a four year old kicked his ass."

"Of course he fucking kicked his ass." Hidan said off handedly. "He killed already at this age. He's obviously a BAMF ninja!"

"Tobi doesn't understand. How could have Itachi-san killed already? He looks like such a good boy!"

"Apparently his jackass of a father had taken him out to see the war and he was attacked by some bastard he was trying to help. The fucker got what he deserved, a slit throat, but the kid seems to be traumatized by it." The zealot then turned towards Kakuzu, who just happened to be near Kisame and Hidan changed his initial question to something else. "Do you know when he fucking awoke his Sharingan?"

"Um, at eight?" The shark answered uncertainly. "Itachi-san says that he got it after his first friend was killed in front of him. Something about the Sharingan needing strong emotions to awaken."

"Then why the Jashin damned hell does he have it now?"

"What?!" They all yelled. Well, everyone but Kakuzu. He looked thoughtful.

"It is possible that he had been unaware of awakening it. After all, I doubt he had the luxury or taking a mirror with him to war. They probably only found out about his Sharingan when someone else saw it. Although," he paused with a frown. "I heard that there are instances where someone awakens their Sharingan but cannot use it until they get stronger. Maybe he was too young?" They all thought about it before Pein shook his head.

"We can speak about this with the grownup Itachi. We need to focus on his turning back _into_ the grownup Itachi. Will it hurt?"

"Orochimaru didn't know. **And if he did, he didn't say anything.** " The two halves of Zetsu answered.

"Guess we'll find out in three days, un." Deidara pointed out uneasily, not liking the idea of a child being in pain. Especially not a child he'd been helping take care of just yesterday.

"Where is he, anyway? We haven't seen him yet. You just contacted us and sent us to find Orochimaru." Zetsu commented, looking around for the pipsqueak Uchiha.

"You would have come in real handy yesterday," Kakuzu snorted, still embarrassed that they had spent an _hour_ searching for a child. A genius little Uchiha ninja child but a child none the less. Although, after what Hidan had told them ... Perhaps Itachi had never truly been a child at all.

"He's playing with Konan now. No doubt they're buried in origami." Pein answered, shaking his head at his girlfriend's over excitement at having around someone as fascinated by her origami as she was.

"Oh! Oh! Tobi wants to see! Tobi wants to see!" The masked childish individual exclaimed before sprinting out of the room before anyone could suggest it wasn't such a bright idea. They all sighed and followed after him, most curious about what will happen. The fifteen year old Itachi avoided Tobi like the plague. How will little Itachi respond?

Now, Tobi knew the Uchiha had been turned into a child but actually seeing it was a whole different matter. The second he entered the living room and those big black eyes fell on him, nostalgia hit him like a brick wall to the groin, if that made any sense. He just continued staring at the four year old, lost in memories of parading around the little genius for shits and giggles and impressing girls - one girl in particular.

When Uchiha Itachi tilted his little head to the side like a curious kitten or a crow, Tobi disappeared.

Uchiha Obito broke.

The masked man jumped across the room, scooped the adorable boy up into his arms and cuddled the life out of him, squealing like he would deny for the rest of his life since the boy was born whenever he got a hold of his little cousin. "Itachi~!"

Said prodigy blinked up at the orange mask before recognition flashed across his onyx eyes. "Obito-nii?"

Obito only cuddled the Uchiha some more, getting a small smile and a faint blush for the show of affection only he had ever showed this little boy. Sure, after Obito's 'death' and when Itachi grew up a little, he'd meet Shisui who would also be openly affectionate with his younger cousin but never to the degree Obito had been. And while Sasuke was a cuddler until the massacre, he was younger than Itachi and it just wasn't the same.

"Oh, how cute you are! I almost forgot that you're already a heart-breaker!" He gushed at his little cousin, grinning behind his mask when that blush intensified. He'd grown so used to the cold, indifferent mask that Itachi wore nowadays that he'd completely forgotten how easy it had been to get a reaction out of his younger cousin. Of course, he had also almost forgotten the beautiful smile he used to make until he just saw it again. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in trouble and the Akatsuki is helping me." Was the innocent reply of his younger cousin. ''They're protecting me from Orochimaru-san, since he attacked me for some reason.'' He then took in the sight of Obito and frowned when he noticed the size difference. ''How are you so much older all of a sudden?''

Obito hated Itachi's perceptiveness even when he was younger. It prevented people from lying to him, even if it was only the small, white lies that would have spared him pain or his innocence. It also prevented Obito from lying to the older Itachi. He wondered if the teen knew he was not really Uchiha Madara. ''It's what war does to people. It makes them grow up extra fast, which is why you were taken from the battlefield. You know how protective aunt Mikoto is of you.''

Itachi just nodded along, still too young to know about the aging process and the Uchiha had been merciful enough not to make him learn anatomy so young yet, other than the places to stab if he's in a fight. Itachi smiled up at him again, startling him with how much emotion Itachi was openly showing. ''It's good that you're here, too, Obito-nii.''

Obito placed a finger to Itachi's lips, silencing the child. Itachi blinked at him in confusion. ''You need to call me Tobi, here.'' He explained gently. ''No one is to know that I am your cousin, okay?''

''But why?'' The little genius inquired and Obito fumbled for a good response.

''It's for our protection.'' He settled for. ''If someone were to find out I was here, they'd know you were here, too, and they'd come for the Uchiha heir. We can't allow that, now cane we?'' The little raven shook his head.

''We can't, Tobi-nii.''

The older cousin's lips twitched beneath his mask. He heard the others coming in behind them and he knew they heard that, so he snatched Itachi up and spun him in a circle, earning himself some startled laughter from the child. ''Waah! Itachi-san called Tobi Tobi-nii! Itachi-san is so cute!'' He was immensely glad that he was allowed to play a fool in front of the Akatsuki, as it allowed him to dote a little on his cousin like he had not been able to since Itachi arrived.

''Tobi, put him down before you drop him, un.'' Deidra snapped, moving to take the child from the childish grownup. But Tobi moved out of his grasp, holding Itachi close to his chest like an overprotective mother when faced with creepy men.

''No! Tobi not let Itachi-san go! Tobi play with Itachi-san! Deidara-senpai more dangerous than Tobi!'' He started running when he saw the pissed off expression on Diedara's face and the blond gave chase, Itachi screaming with laughter as he and his older cousin were chased.

''We won't be able to get any peace and quiet now, are we?'' Sasori drying asked, not really expecting an answer. It was obvious. Still, they all enjoyed Itachi's laughter greatly, especially since they knew they might never hear it again after the week was up.

00000

The fifth day after Itachi was turned into a four year old child, the Akatsuki decided to take the child out to the nearby town since there was a festival there. They had quickly bought him a nice little kimono, black with red clouds, which they found great amusement in. But Itachi had made a request they found very hard to deny so they had told a tailor to stitch on a red and white fan on the back, proudly proclaiming Itachi the Uchiha that he was.

The little genius found great amusement in the antics of his protectors as they got ready for the festival in the hideout. Kisame was chasing Hidan around for teasing him about his blue kimono - the Jashinist had suggested that he simply go naked if he was going to chose a kimono the color of his skin - while Pein held onto the boy so Tobi couldn't steal Itachi and run off again. Konan and Deidara were fighting over how they should tie Kakuzu's obi while said man threatened to kill everyone - but Itachi; damn that overly emotional, defective heart - if they spent too much money. Sasori and Zetsu just watched as the others made fools of themselves. Neither could believe how relaxed a child could make them all feel.

When they finally set out, Itachi was riding on Kisame's shoulders, since he was the tallest of them all, enjoying everything he could see from his high perch. The shark man had a careful grip on his little partner's leg as he walked through the crowds, pausing whenever the soft spoken child asked him to so he could better see something. The flush of enjoyment on Itachi's cheeks made the Akatsuki very glad they had indulged in going to the festival. It would be a wonderful memory for Itachi, if he retained any when he got back to his usual age.

They all played a few games, winning Itachi small stuffed animals that seemed to only elicit more laughter from the child. People were staring at them, they, too, enjoying the rare sound that was falling from their youngest member's lips. Itachi had always garnered a lot of attention, with his intellect and his looks. Kakuzu had been right when he said that the Uchiha beauty had culminated in Itachi. Even as a child, people stopped to admire that same Uchiha beauty and grace. Itahci's smile only made him even more angelic.

It also made it impossible for anyone to deny him anything, which is how this mess had started to begin with.

Itachi had seen a throwing game with little shuriken for kids who wanted to play ninja. He had been fascinated with such a game and had asked to be allowed to play it. Not sure if they should allow a shurikenjutsu master to play a child's game and get them unwanted attention - adults winning games was okay, but not these rigged kiddie games where one was never meant to win and Itachi _would_ win; shurikenjutsu master and all. Still, Itachi had had such a hopeful look in his eyes that they had been unable to say now and Kakuzu had given Itachi enough ryo to pay for one turn. The little Uhciha had beamed up at them and had ran off to play the game, leaving quite a few people giggling with how cure the kid was. The Akatsuki stayed back to observe if there was any threat heading towards Itachi's direction while he was otherwise occupied so they can react before said possible threat was to make its way to him.

Itachi found out that the game was rigged as soon as he was handed the shuriken. A normal child wouldn't have noticed, or even a normal adult that had never held a real shuriken. One of the edges was significantly heavier than the other three, which would as a result make the shuriken fly in a path not intended or drop to the floor altogether. The end result would still be the same. The shuriken would never make it to the bullseye. Itachi resisted the urge to glare at the cheat of a man as he smiled down at the newest ''sucker''. Well, Itachi wasn't about to fall for his trick. He felt the shuriken up until he found the right balance and took careful aim.

The spectators were left gapping when Itachi released all three shuriken at once, letting them sail towards the same target until two suddenly arched, one heading towards the left target and one towards the right. Even the Akatsuki were impressed with such mastery of shuriken at such a young age, despite having seen Itachi do even more impressive maneuvers with the weapons. All three shuriken hit their targets at the same exact moment and the crowd cheered for the cute little boy. The Uchiha smirked at the phony, who in turn glared at the child and accused him of cheating. His honor put into question, the little ninja had glared in turn, startling the man with the first version of the Uchiha Glare of Death that Itachi mastered, and the boy took out a handful of _real_ shuriken, hurling them at all the targets and hitting each and every one. Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, the Akatsuki made to move to get their youngest member and maybe have Kakuzu and Kisame intimidate the man into giving in or simply letting Hidan sacrifice him to Jashin, when the crowd suddenly started pushing them around, all of them protesting the man's accusation of the child being a cheater.

The pushing around became an outright fight in a matter of seconds and the S-ranked criminals found themselves having to wrestle with drunken men or have slap fights with delusional women who have inhaled who knows what. In the meantime, Itachi had slipped from the fight, not wanting to be crushed under their feet. He avoided the food fight that had started outside the circle of wrestlers and ran away from the incoming food from the children who had taken the chance to cause mischief. They, of course, couldn't hit Itachi but the Uchiha still ran away, never one to enjoy a conflict.

Of course, this ended in Itachi getting separated from the Akatsuki and left him completely lost. And even though he were a genius, Itachi was still very much a child and the thought of not finding his protectors left him in distress. He tried finding them by himself, but he ended up just wandering around aimlessly, getting more more distressed by the minute. People didn't seem to care that a child was lost and in distress and just continued with their own festivities.

Just as he felt tears threatening to flow down his face, Itachi felt himself being lifted up by a pair of gentle hands. He was soon turned to face the person before he could start panicking and he instantly recognized the silver hair and the face mask the man wore.

''Hey, there. You okay?'' Hatake Kakashi asked gently, trying not to spook the boy. Itachi wanted to ask Kakashi the same question he had asked Obito, but it occurred to him that the answer must be the same. Instead, he just nodded his head but Kakashi had seen the tears gathered in his eyes. ''Are you lost?'' The Uchiha nodded again and the silver haired ANBU frowned.

''Kakashi, what's going on?'' An unknown brunet asked as he came to stand behind the Copy Nin, instantly seeing the cute little child. ''Oh, hello there.'' He looked back at the older man with a frown on his face. Kakashi gave him a blank look, recognizing the look on the brunet's face as the one he usually still wore when his old ROOT training kicked in.

''He's just lost, Tenzou.''

''He looks familiar.'' The brunet, Tenzou, insisted, regarding the child, studying his ash colored hair and black eyes.

''A lot of kids look like this.'' Kakashi said in exasperation. Itachi frowned. Kakashi hadn't recognized him. The younger man didn't seem to know him. Were they really Konoha shinobi? Everyone in Konoha knew about him, the prodigal heir of the proud Uchiha Clan. And he wasn't being vain or anything. His father had practically paraded throughout the village with some other elders when he was born, as though he were some sort of savior or whatever.

''Doesn't he look like someone we know?'' The brunet insisted, scratching the back of his head as he thought. Itachi suddenly had a bad gut feeling that something bad would happen if they realized who he was. He didn't know what it was that was telling him this but he had always followed his gut feeling before and it always came out better for it. Like when he had took one of his aunts' old slippers instead of his uncle's. Sure, he had looked ridiculous with pink slippers and many a kids from the Clan had laughed at him, but the id who had taken the uncle's slippers had fallen prey to one of Obito-nii's pranks and had smelly feet for weeks to come. No one knew what Obito-nii had used for the prank, just that it had taken hours of soaking the boy's feet in sour milk for the smell to finally evaporate. He still had smelly feet, as far as Itachi knew. ''I know, he looks like-''

''Oh, there you are, Ita-chan!'' Itachi sighed in relief when Konan ran up to them, taking the boy from the silver haired man's grip and cuddling him up to her. She had seen the silver haired ninja and recognized him instantly but she had panicked when she saw that he was holding their youngest member. Thinking fast, she had ran at him full speed and snatched the boy up before he could blink and was now cuddling him like an overly worried mother. Which is exactly how she felt, to be honest. She had never been this fast in her life. She was careful to cover the red and white fan on Itachi's back, cursing their inability to deny the child the Uchiha symbol on his clothing. If she wasn't careful now, these two Konoha ANBU will no doubt notice it and things could only get worse from then on. She fussed over the child before turning to the two 'nice men'. ''Thank you for finding my son. My husband and I were worried sick!'' She bowed respectfully towards the Leaf ninja, feeling like puking her guts but knowing she has to keep up appearances.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head in confusion. ''Um, it's nothing?'' The one known as Tenzou was still staring at Itachi and Konan stiffened when she saw his eyes widening. Konan realized why when she realized that they had been in partial darkness up until now, but as a man selling rice paper lanterns passed by, their light illuminated Itachi's oh too Uchiha features and the brunet had recognized the youngest ANBU in history with ease, despite his young age.

''We have to go!'' Konan rushed out before running away, hearing the brunet start after her and Kakashi calling after him.

''It's Itachi, Kakashi-senpai!'' She heard the silver haired man curse as well before his footsteps joined in on the chase, both calling for her to halt. When she ignored them, they started hurling warning shuriken and kunai at her that, had they not thought her to be a poor woman Itachi had tricked with his genjutsu, would have killed her. Itachi was staring over her shoulder in fright and shock and Konan wanted to guide his head to face forwards, but she had no time to readjust him.

She suddenly felt a hand on her weapons pouch and then a gentle tugging before she heard the sound of fumbling with her kunai and shuriken. A second lather, the sound of weapons being thrown and the thunks they made as they connected followed, Kakashi and Tenzou cursing as the strategic throwing of shuriken and kunai made them stumble unless they wanted to have their foot stabbed by a kunai or ducking to save their head from being struck by shuriken. It was sloppy, all things considered, but she knew Itachi only wanted to slow them down. She was grateful for his assistance but she knew she didn't have all that many weapons in her hostler. She preferred her paper over kunai and shuriken, Itachi's preferred weapon besides his katana.

Itachi saw that the two were gaining on them when he stopped hurling weapons at them. He now only had two kunai and two shuriken left, as well as some trap spikes and some wire. He thought over his provisions before turning to look ahead, where he saw that there was a left turn into an alley. ''Konan-san, take the left turn.''

Konan wanted to question him but saw that his eyes were indeed the red of the Sharingan, although there were only two tomoe and not three, like she was used to. He was calculating something in that bright little head of his and she will have to trust his plan to get them out of this. So she turned the sharp corner and heard the dropping of the spikes and then wire being stretched. She was curious as to what he was doing but she had to concentrate on running around the barrels in the tight ally, jumping over overturned boxes and the such.

She heard their pursuers follow them down the alley and prayed that whatever Itachi had thought up would work. It, apparently, did, as Kakashi and Tenzou jumped overhead and Itachi hurled his last two shuriken at them, the throwing stars bouncing off the wall and separating and going on either side of the two men, only to bound back and encircle them once, tightly, before embedding in the walls. When the grunted in pain, Konan dared to look up and over her shoulder, only to see that Itachi had used the wire to connect the two shuriken so that they would restrain the ninja. But there was no way those two shuriken could hold up two fully grown men!

Which Itachi must have known, because he took careful aim and threw the two kunai, their tips stabbing the wall barely visible through the holes of the two shuriken. As the throwing weapons were now, the two ninja will be restrained for at least a few minutes, enough for Konan and Itachi to disappear.

''Nice going, Itachi!'' It would seem he _really_ was a master of shurikenjutsu. Konan wouldn't have been able to do this if she had had ten minutes to plan it out and if she were standing still. She guessed his Sharingan had helped with that, especially since it was rather dark in the alleyway.

''Can we please go home, Konan-san?'' The boy asked, not at all sounding affected by the praise. She guessed this was far too much conflict for a boy who hated it.

''Of course,'' she answered, continuing on her way, knowing that there was no way those two would stay like that for much longer. In fact, just ten meters later, she heard them going after them again. She cursed under her breath when she felt them coming closer, knowing they will catch up to them if they didn't do something, but Itachi had no more weapons and he still didn't know how to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. She prepared to use her paper when she heard Kisame.

''Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!'' A giant wave of water hit the streets, heading towards the pair of ANBU, the brunet cursing and doing some earth jutsu to try and absorb the water while Sasori sent a puppet to pluck up Konan and Itachi from the street.

''Let's get out of here,'' Pein commanded, taking the slightly shaken up Itachi from the tired Konan and leaping off of the roof, the rest of his organization quick to follow. Deidara stayed behind long enough to hurl one of his explosive clay figurines at the Leaf ninja.

''Katsu!''

The Akatsuki left the village with a blast.

When the smoke cleared up, Tenzou looked at his captain with confusion. ''Was that really a kid Uchiha Itachi?''

''I don't know,'' the silver haired man replied with a tired sigh, running his hands through his hair. ''What I _do_ know is that we'll have to pay for _this_.'' He gestured towards the damage the Akatsuki had left in their wake, not that they knew it was them.

Tenzo had anime tears rolling down his cheeks. ''Damn, Itahci really _is_ evil.''

Kakashi didn't reply, still thinking about the child version of their once teammate. Had that really been Itachi at all? The shurikenjutsu the kid used would suggest so. But if it really was Uchiha Itahci, how had that happened to him? And why was he with those strange people?

But he didn't have the time to ponder that. He would have to make these people realize that they had just been doing their job and hadn't been the ones to attack their village.


	3. Chapter 3

**Akatsuki's Week With Baby Itachi**

 **Summary: Orochimaru tries to control Itachi with a jutsu, but it backfires and the Akatsuki are left with a few problems on their less than care-capable hands. Thank Kami it was reversible!**

''Let's never do that again, un.'' Deidara said the next morning with a tired groan. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted the next morning from their day at the festival. It didn't help that it was the sixth day since Itachi's transformation, meaning they only had today with the little Uchiha until he turns back to his old, fifteen and a half year old self. And then there will be no more cuddling or cute little smiles and melodious laughter. Sure, their jobs will become easier, but they knew they would miss the kid. Itachi had breathed life into them, reminding them all what innocence looked and felt like, even if it was only the remains of it and even if it was only temporary at best. The kid also seemed to bring peace with him, his calm demeanor having stopped all arguments for the week that he had been here. One had to wonder just what a child's presence can do to a person, even to a bunch of S-ranked criminals.

''At least Itachi had some fun.'' Sasori commented, remembering the laughter he wished he could record somewhere. It was truly a sound to treasure.

''Yeah, until that fucking bastard tried to cheat him.''Hidan grumbled, wishing he could have killed that vendor. Seriously, trying to con a kid? And they called the Akatsuki members evil!

''You think he will be okay after that encounter with the Copy Ninja Kakashi and the other ANBU?'' Konan asked worriedly, remembering how Itachi had refused to sleep anywhere but between herself and Pein the night before, after they had all gotten ready for bed. They hadn't minded - far from it - but they had both been left seething when the brave child they had come to know had been afraid to sleep on his own in fear of the ANBU coming for him. He had nearly slit Pein's throat this morning when the ginger had shook him to wake him up for breakfast. He had been unusually glum all throughout the meal, sitting in Kisame's lap like a kid his age would, but Itachi had very rarely acted his age in the past week so it had worried them all.

He hadn't even wanted dango when Konan had offered it to him when it became obvious he won't eat much of his breakfast!

Luckily, Tobi had seemed to manage to get some reaction out of the boy, taking him to watch some cartoons in the living room while the rest of the organization forced themselves to function properly with insane amounts of coffee and sugar. They could hear Itachi talking with Tobi, but his words were quieter than they had been all week. They already missed the relaxed boy he had been before his run in with Kakashi and that Tenzou guy.

''He will be,'' Kakuzu replied confidently. ''He is an Uchiha, after all.''

''That's probably what started this whole mess!'' Kisame hissed at the eighty something year old ninja, startling Kakuzu. Kisame rarely displayed his aggression on his fellow Akatsuki members. ''We all think he can take care of himself just because he's Uchiha Itachi! He's still a kid! Even in his real age, he's still only a teenager! Just because he's a fucking genius doesn't mean he's all powerful! He has his limits! He needs other people to still care for him from time to time!''

''Kisame is right,'' Pein said with a sip of his hot coffee. ''Itachi has been making sure t help us in subtle ways but we never once tried to take care of him. Call it that we don't share his Leaf mentality, but he is still a part of the Akatsuki, an essential part at that. We need to realize that he's not as invincible as we like to think him to be.''

''Itachi-dana won't like us fussing over him.'' Diedara warned, knowing that not even this four year old Itachi liked having such attention turned on himself.

''He'll probably be suspicious of us, if he doesn't remember anything, suddenly paying so much attention to him.'' The redhead added, knowing Itachi could be a bit paranoid.

''He'd probably Tsukuyomi us if we even suggested that he needs to be taken care of, the fucker.'' The zealot of the group grumbled, knowing it was more than a possibility. Even Itachi had some pride, minuscule as it was in comparison to everyone else's. He's actually more about honor than pride.

''Be that as it may, you guys could at least not try to antagonize him for a day or so.'' Kisame said, crossing his arms over his chest, knowing that's what mostly annoyed his partner. Sasori and Kakuzu respected Itachi, but even they had their moments when they felt the need to annoy the weasel. Hidan and Deidara actively did it on a daily basis until Itachi glared at them with the Mangekyo Sharingan and they then left him be for a few days. Tobi annoyed everyone, so he didn't really count. And even Zetsu, who avoided Itachi as best as he could, Kisame, who made sure to always be more a pillar of support to his partner than anything else, and Pein and Konan could be bothersome on some days. Especially if the Uchiha overused his eyes.

''Yeah, I guess we could do that.'' Hidan concluded, surprising everyone that he hadn't used a single cuss word. Guess he was serious about this, then.

''But, in the meantime, we should probably try and make this the best day of Itachi's life, ne?'' The kunoichi suggested, wanting one more pleasant day with the little boy before the teenager returned and they tried to reconcile unmade bonds with him.

''We could go to the beach?'' Kisame suggested, knowing Itachi loved to sit beside the ocean for hours and just look out towards the horizon. He loved the sea breeze and the smell of the salty water, loved to watch his faithful crow outmaneuvering the seagulls- His crow! ''Shit!'' The blue man cursed, picking up his Samehada and racing out of the hideout before anyone could question what was going on. The remaining members of the Akatsuki just stared after him before Hidan asked the very obvious question.

''Jeez, what's got his panties in a fucking bunch?''

Leader just shook his head, knowing he will never fully understand his employees. ''I have no idea but he better come back soon. Itachi will be sad that he didn't come to the beach with us.''

''We're going?'' The startled Sasori asked. ''After that disaster yesterday?''

''There's a nearby beach that Kisame uses to train,'' Konan explained dutifully. ''No one goes there because there are sharp rocks all over the place but it's beautiful and apparently, Itachi and Kisame go there some times when we give them time off.''

''Which is almost never.'' Kakuzu grumbled, having realized that only after Itachi had pointed out that one team seemed to always be on missions when they were balancing the checkbooks. Itachi and Kisame got a majority of the missions, either by request or because they are the most suited for it. Either way, they got very little free time. Something they all ought to do something about in the future.

''We should first see if Itachi-dana's even up to it, un.''

''Well, why do you go ask him?'' Zetsu questioned, having stayed quiet until now. The other Akatsuki exchanged looks and then all turned to look at their Leader expectantly. Pein sighed and wondered how he'd ended up choosing such cowards for his organization if they were afraid to ask a kid if he wanted to go to the beach.

Then again, Nagato mused as he walked towards where he could hear Tobi chattering to said kid, he didn't want to upset the Uchiha, himself. He wanted to see him relaxed and happy once more before he turned back to his old self.

00000

It would seem that some time with the juvenile Tobi had managed to cheer Itachi up a great deal since breakfast and when he heard they were going to the beach, he was smiling excitedly again. It would seem Kakuzu had been right about him being okay, much to the Akatsuki's relief. They had quickly packed up and set off towards the beach, Itachi all but a bubbling ball of energy as they approached to sound of water clashing against the shore two hours later. Up until then, he had either been walking on his own, burning off some energy and getting his dango-appetite back or he had been carried by various Akatsuki members. They had thought it, like always, rather cute, his enthusiasm.

But then some of that excitement died down when he saw that Kisame wasn't waiting for them when they arrived at the beach. The others saw and swore they were going to bash Kisame's head in if he ruins this day for the Uchiha, but then they focused on entertaining Itachi so he wouldn't notice the absence of his partner. Not easy when some part of Itachi greatly associated Kisame with the sea still.

Obito yet again came to the rescue, scooping up his little cousin and rushing into the water with him in his arms, Itachi shrieking in sudden delight. Konan screamed after them, warning Tobi not to dump Itachi into cold water before he got used to it as it was bad for his heart, ending up running after the pair, Itachi's laughter heard over Tobi's screams for help and Konan's death threats.

And when Tobi managed to get Deidara wet as they ran past the blond, explosions joined the fray, Kakuzu barely managing to save Itachi from the conflict of ninjas. Sasori joined in, too, when one of Diedara's clay bombs forced him to dive behind a rock for cover, ending up with a lot of sand falling into places it should never be in a puppet. Pein, Itachi and Kakuzu just watched as Hidan joined in for the hell of it, two not impressed by the chaos while Itachi didn't know whether to be horrified or amused at their behavior. He was then handed to Pein when Kakuzu realized they were threatening to destroy their rather expensive beach gear, leaving the two doujutsu wielders to sigh in exasperation over their behavior.

When they felt Pein's murderous aura when the first blood - Hidan's - was spilled, they stopped fighting, knowing they'd be in trouble if they killed or seriously maimed each other, so Obito came up with a brilliant idea. He splashed Deidara in the face, which earned them Hidan's uncontrollable laughter. He then ducked when Deidara made to splash him, ending up splashing Konan instead. The woman retaliated by splashing Kakuzu, who then proceeded to try and drown Hidan and Deidara, Sasori dunking him in an attempt to save his lover. Even Zetsu joined when Tobi jumped up on Konan's back to save the idiot from being drowned by the kunoichi when he accidentally grabbed her breast. And then he had to run like there was no tomorrow when Pein put Itachi down and ran after them, intending on murdering Tobi and ending the water war like that.

Itachi just continued watching and laughing until Hidan took a bucketful of water and dumped it on the genius. Suddenly, Itachi's continuance went from happy and innocent to mischievous and downright dangerous for their health. Hidan took a step back and another and another, Itachi following him each time before the zealot took off towards the sea, the drenched genius chasing after him. Hidan slowed down when he hit the water but Itachi surprised them all yet again when he ran on the water rather than into it. Itachi then leaped through the air, hitting Hidan in the chest and making him stumble back, falling back into the water. The Uchiha didn't go down with him, instead jumping a few feet back and away, nearly loosing his footing before gathering himself. Just in time for Deidara to catch him, holding the struggling genius in the air before throwing him into the water, laughing all the while. With a yelp and a splash, Itachi went under. When he didn't break the surface after a good 20 seconds, the adults stopped laughing and looked worried.

That is, until Itachi had his revenge and dragged Deidara under water by the blond's feet. Kakuzu grunted as he met the same fate at Hidan's hands. The two high-fived each other before running off in different directions when their victims took after them, Itachi once again running on water so he could escape Deidara. It was soon Deidara who was being chased when he ran over Sasori when the boy hid behind the Akasuna, threatening to strangle him should he ever catch him. Not even Zetsu escaped the fray, what with Hidan tackling him as his next victim.

Itachi was left giggling on his own, but he didn't want to be caught in the crossfire again so he trekked back to the beach, taking a towel and wrapping it around himself before looking back at his protectors, feeling strangely at ease. He had not felt like this since before his Chichiue had taken him out to the encampment. He felt like a child again, despite no longer considering himself as such. After all, he wasn't innocent anymore. How can a killer be innocent? But Itachi felt content with these people. They were obviously somewhere isolated from the war, as the festival yesterday would suggest, and these people had shown they'd protect him should he ever get in trouble. They cared for him and he would miss them all when he finally has to go back. Maybe he'll be able to see them in a few years? He sure hopes so. He knows for sure that he'll come around after he becomes a proper ninja.

The cawing of a crow drew Itachi out of his thoughts and he looked up, blinking when the black bird flew down to flap in front of him. It cawed again, as if demanding something from him. Confused, Itachi just stretched out his arm, almost on instinct and with fascination, he watched as the bird landed on his arm, careful not to damage his skin. It cawed happily, content just sitting there. He stared in awe as the crow started preening itself. Itachi reached out with his free hand and carefully, agonizingly slowly, to pet the black feathers. The Uchiha's lips spread into an amazed smile when the crow all but scrambled to lean into his fingers and he gently started caressing the crow's head.

"He's been worried sick about you," the familiar voice of Kisame startled neither crow nor its miniaturized master as they both turned to regard him curiously as the shark man calmly walked over to them, a friendly grin on his face. He sat down beside Itachi, ignoring how the bird seemed to glare at him. In the crow's opinion, these Akatsuki people had had a week with his master while he had been searching after that stupid Snake's jutsu. It was his turn. Kisame's smile turned sheepish as he faced his young partner. "Sorry I forgot all about your crow, Itachi-san. I was just worried about you and hadn't even realized he was missing."

Black eyes blinked in confusion up at him, the raven head tilting in curiosity. "My crow?" The bird in question gawked its agreement and Itachi looked back at him before turning hopeful eyes up at Kisame. "He's mine? Really mine?"

A blue eyebrow cocked at the strange response. "Yeah. Has been for a long time." Those sharp eyes lit up in delight and an impossibly soft smile spread across Itachi's features as he scratched carefully under the bird's neck. The crow gleefully announced its approval and a laugh escaped Itachi.

"I always liked crows." He murmured and Kisame grinned at how delighted the boy looked at seeing - unknown to him - his lifelong companion. When Kisame had finally found the bird, it had been frantically still searching the forest and the surrounding area for its master. He guessed Itachi either sent it away or it had been flung away by the shock wave that had allowed them to find Itachi in the first place. Of course, by the time it returned to where his master had been, Itachi had already been found by Pein and Konan, leaving the bird forgotten since they had all been a bit too worried about Itachi to even remember his crow was his only companion when he went out to train.

When it had seen Kisame, the crow had attacked him as though h had betrayed Itachi and Kisame had had to fight all of his ninja instincts to not retaliate and injure the bird. If he did that and Itachi found out once he returned to normal, Kisame would be sushi! He had to calm the animal down so he could tell it that its master was fine. He then proceeded to lead the crow to Itachi, where he had _this_ reaction.

"They _are_ awfully smart creatures." He conceded and Itachi nodded, looking back at Kisame with a smile that melted his insides and that he wished his partner would actually show at least once as a grown up.

"Yo, dumbass!" They looked back towarxs the water where Hidan was waving at Kisame while holding Sasori in a headlock. "Get in the fucking water! Aren't you supposed to be some sort of fish?"

Kisame scowled at the zealot. "I'm going to kill that man. Even if it lasts only a second." He grumbled, flinging off his cloak and clothes that were underneath until he was only in swimming trunks and he ran off to do as he said, Itachi watching with interest as the shark man easily caught Hidan and started drowning the immortal, everyone else just laughing at his cursing. Itachi looked back to his crow, wondering why it had one Sharingan eye but dismissing it as something maybe even his protectors didn't know.

Instead, he spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun, occasionally joining in on the water war still going on in the seal and just embracing the day as though it were his last.

00000

"Itachi-chan, un?" Said boy looked up to let his gaze settle on the second youngest person in their group, pausing in his roasting of a marshmallow. They have had a wonderful dinner prepared by Kisame, Konan and Itachi himself consisting of sea food that Kisame delivered freshly straight out of the ocean. Itachi took care of the fish while Konan took care of the seasonings and side dishes. Kisame cooked or roasted anything they didn't know how and they ended up with a big feast. For desert, Konan had had the foresight to buy the marshmallows and they had all just sat down around the fire, took up a stick and started preparing their sweets.

"Yes, Deidara?" The child replied politely, wondering if he should give one marshmallow to his crow, who strangely enough hadn't went to sleep despite how dark it was outside. The skies were full of twinkling stars and there was a full moon rising over the calm sea. Yet the bird hadn't fallen asleep like birds usually do when darkness comes. Itachi attributed it to the Sharingan implanted in the crow's left eye socket. It saw in the dark just as fine as it did during the day so it saw no reason to sleep until it ft like it.

The blond chewed on his bottom lip, wondering if he should ask this question at all. Yet he felt that this was the only way they'd ever get an answer as to just _who_ Itachi really was under all that cool and impassiveness. "What do you want to do when you grow up, un? With your life, I mean."

The rest of the group fell silent, all of their eyes falling on the small raven haired boy as he thought, tilting his head a bit to the side, eyes distant. "I would fight for peace." Itachi finally replied. "I'd like to travel the world and fight for peace. See new places, maybe meet some interesting people, although I doubt anyone can be interesting as you guys." He admitted with a childish giggle, melting all of their hearts with the innocent sound. How long had it passed since they had reacted to a child's laughter before this had happened? How long had passed since they'd even registered or heard it? It felt like a lifetime ago. "But I guess I'd most want to just find happiness and peace for myself. Live someplace nice, away from conflict and war."

"But don't you like your home in Konoha?" Kisame questioned his little partner, startled Itachi would want to live anywhere else but in the home village he loved so much.

"I very much love my village." The genius replied with a somber air around him. "But it's a ninja village. People are always fighting. Even when this war ends, there will be constant conflict, among ninjas from both Konoha and ninjas who originate elsewhere. I like it here, with you guys." That startled the Akatsuki adults, all staring down at the should be teenager. "You're an example of what true peace might look like."

"What do you mean?" A confused Nagato asked, not understanding how his organization of some of the world's most dangerous and deadly criminals could represent peace.

"Aside from the missions you still take, you guys are just like normal people. You all live together just fine, despite not coming from the same village. In fact, I would bet my eyes that most of you hadn't even met each other until you joined Akatsuki." The genius smiled softly at them. "If you just didn't take any missions, you guys would represent real, true peace because you're the first group of ninja who don't hail from a single village that acts like a family. Hokage-sama says everyone in the village is his family. In an ideal world with true peace, all ninjas from all villages would be family. You guys have managed to make that here, on a much smaller scale, but you've proved it possible. It makes your place seem like home."

"I never thought of it in such a light." Konan offered after a long stretch of silence, each and every one of them regarding Itachi with interest. Of course this perceptive child would notice their strange dynamics when even they themselves were ignorant of it. Itachi's eyes were keen on taking the slightest notice of every change, every shift in behavior, with or without his Kekkei Genkai. In fact, the kid seemed oblivious to the fact that the Sharingan had even been activated in his eyes. Yet he still saw more than any other person could. It was as though he could peer right into their very souls.

Maybe that's what set him aside from all the other Uchihas? When the thirteen year old Itachi had first joined their organization, Kakuzu had instantly labeled him as different to all the other Uchihas he had met before in his life. Konan had thought it either had to do with his humble nature or his sheer genius. Orochimaru, while he had still been in the organization with them, had always been obsessing with Itachi's eyes. Yet it was neither his power nor his character, although those were exceptional enough by themselves. It was the fact that he had _true, pure_ visual prowess, allowing him to throughly study a person in a matter of seconds and judge them accordingly, never once making a mistake on their character. And they had all overlooked that until this moment, hadn't they? Until Itachi had made it glaringly obvious to them with just a few sentences.

Obito could not deny the pride he felt towards his little cousin as he saw the awe the other Akatsuki members had in their eyes as they now watched the child eat his desert while petting his crow and watching the rising moon. Obito had always known his cousin was special, way before the younger Uchiha had met Shisui. And while he never got to make such a strong bond with him, he had always been exceptionally fond of Itachi. He had been the only Uchiha not to pity or belittle him for not awakening his Sharingan until he was thirteen. Sure, he had been only a kid back then, but as he was showing now, Itachi was an extremely smart kid. He understood everything their other clansmen said and he had not liked Obito's treatment. He couldn't understand such aloofness towards one's own family but he had made sure to always make Obito feel appreciated. Obito just wished such an attitude could have continued when they met up again.

Then again, he _had_ introduced himself to Itachi as Uchiha Madara, but he was starting to wonder if Itachi had ever bought that lie. The ease with which this _child_ had recognized him ... There was no way the thirteen year old Itachi hadn't realized Tobi was not Madara but Obito. He'd have to have a chat with his younger cousin when he turned back to his real age. For now ...

"Tobi likes that idea! Tobi never had a family, not really, and Tobi is such a good boy and good boys always have nice, big families!"

"Jashin, you just _can't_ shut the fuck up for one damned minute, can you?" Hidan snapped at the masked man, getting a tsk from Deidara.

"Like you're the one to talk, un! Once you start on all that Jashin bullshit, not even Kakuzu sewing your mouth shut can stop you!"

"What did you say, blondie?!"

"You heard me, un!"

"What about you? We all know how _talkative_ you are at night, _Dei-chan_! After all, the whole hideout echoes with your screams!"

A gasp. "Take that back, un!"

"Or what?" A challenge.

"Oh, shit." Kisame muttered, gathering Itachi's small body in his arms, jumping to his feet and sprinting away from the scene, ignoring the crow's indignant gawking as it tried to cling on to his master.

"Deidara, don't you dare-"

Pein's order was cut off by a "KATSU!" followed by an explosion and curses from the other Akatsuki members.

"DEIDARA!"

"Ups, sorry, un."

00000

By the time they all got back to the hideout, they were all dog tired, Itachi long since having fallen asleep in Konan's arms. The kunoichi had taken him from Kisame so he could help with their beach gear which needed to be taken back to the hideout. The boy was now snuggled into her neck, holding on to her cloak and sleeping peacefully, unlike anything they had ever seen with the fifteen year old Itachi they all knew. Zetsu was actually complaining about what the salty water had done to his plant self but no one was loud as they didn't want to wake the genius. They quietly made their way to their rooms, all of them just making the detour to Itachi's and Kisame's room to say silent byes to the child that had brightened their world so in only a week. If a few eyes were brimming with tears, it didn't matter. They weren't shed and no one would begrudge them if they were. Itachi turned out to be just so easy to love.

Kisame was soon left alone with his sleeping partner and he couldn't help but stare at his peaceful face. Itachi was usually stoic even in sleep. As a four year old, Itachi slept with a minuscule smile stretching his lips. The blue man wondered if he would remember anything of their one week of adventures and misadventures while taking care of him to the best of their abilities as S-ranked criminals. He also wondered if it would be good or bad that Itachi remembered. After all, he had shared quite a few secrets that were fundamental in making Itachi who he was as a teenager. His first kill, his pacifism and his dream of peace sure as hell were things Itachi had wanted to keep secret.

The Kiri nin sighed as he finally got himself to go to bed. Itachi-san would still be there in the morning, only he will be back to his normal self. There would be no more laughter or cute smiles and having the privilege of carrying the genius in his arms again. But he had missed his partner, too. Little Itachi had interesting views on the world but he had not seen much of it. Wise as he was, he was still too young to talk about some things. And as young as Itachi was in his rightful age, he had still seen more of the world than his four year old self. Kisame wondered if he was being overly selfish in wanting to keep them both.

He hadn't even realized he had fallen asleep until he felt something snuggling up to him a few hours later. He opened his blurry eyes to see a small raven head resting on his chest, Itachi having abandoned his own bed and instead sleeping with Kisame in his. There was more than enough room for them there but Kisame still shifted a little to give the boy more space. The Uchiha blinked blearily up at him through sleep ridden eyes and Kisame chuckled as he leaned down and placed a gentle, rather intimate kiss on his forehead. By the time he pulled away, the four year old was already back in a deep sleep, a smile still on his face from the affectionate gesture. Kisame's heart gave a painful pang as he realized that Itachi must not have received many affectionate gestures like this as a child of war. He sneaked his arms around the Uchiha as if to shield him from the world and drew the boy closer. Itachi made no complaints, he didn't even stir, so unlike his older self that woke up at every noise made around them, always fully alert thanks to years of training.

"You have no idea how precious you are, do you, Itachi-san?" He whispered quietly to the sleeping boy. "Especially to me. I'd go to hell for you a hundred times and then some if you just asked. You're my most important person. I'd give anything just to keep you safe, not that you need others to look after you. Still, I sometimes wish I could tell you all of this, could gather up the courage and face you with my feelings. Some Kirigakure ninja I am, if just the thought of your rejection terrifies me. But I'd damn my pride for you. I'd give my life for your happiness. Do you even realize that?" Of course, the sleeping Itachi didn't answer and Kisame chuckled to himself, wondering if he had gone crazy. "Guess not." He bent down to kiss the crown of his little partner's head before closing his eyes and settling for sleep, wondering what he'll tell the genius in the morning if Itachi turns back during the night. Oh well. He'll cross that bridge when he gets there. Now, some sleep.

"Good night, Itachi-san."

00000

Kisame was woken up by the feeling of a weight shifting on his chest and he instantly opened his eyes, his eyes greeted with the sight of his beautiful fifteen and a half year old partner stirring away. He panicked for a second, not sure what to do but resigned himself to his fate as soon as those breathtaking blue eyes opened, blinking away sleep. They blinked again when they registered the rough blue skin they were seeing and Itachi raised his head, meeting Kisame's nervous and sheepish grin with a blank expression.

"Good morning, Itachi-san. You must be wondering about our sleeping arrangements-"

He cut himself off when Itachi just put his head back down right over Kisame's heart, hearing its frantic beating through the blue skin covered muscles. "It's too early to be awake, Kisame." The Uchiha murmured, placing a small peck to the skin available to him, causing his partner's breath to hitch. Itachi's lips curled into a content little smile, snuggling closer to his partner. "Especially after a week of running around with you lot."

"Y-you remember?" The startled Kiri ninja asked and Itachi chuckled.

"It is rather hard to forget a week with the Akatsuki as a toddler." The weasel replied, once again meeting Kisame's gaze. "You've all taken great care of me. I could never thank you all enough."

"I'm sure the others will be thrilled that you remember."

"Don't think you're off the hook for forgetting about my crow." Kisame took great offense to that.

"I was a bit more worried about the fact that my partner was chibisized than about a stupid bird!"

Itachi nodded with an amused smirk. "Yes and your concern and care are greatly appreciated." He leaned forward and kissed Kisame in the same spot on the forehead as the older man had kissed his four year old self just last night, causing Kisame's cheeks to turn an interesting shade of purple, eliciting a chuckle from the teen. "As they have always been."

"Itachi-san-"

"If my brother did not exist, the sentiment would have been fully returned." The raven haired male replied, causing Kisame to suddenly grin a face splitting smile. Itachi rolled his eyes and settled back against his partner, shivering when those strong arms wrapped securely around his ... rather bare waist. The clothes he had been wearing had ripped, leaving him in practically a pair of shorts and nothing more. Kisame seemed to greatly appreciate the skin contact. "Now shut up and go back to sleep. It's only five in the morning."

"Yes, Itachi-san."

And when they finally left their room, four hours later, to join the rest of the Akatsuki for breakfast, the other members were elated that the Uchiha remembered the entirety of Akatsuki's week with a baby Itachi. Obito did indeed have a chat with his cousin, finding out that - unsurprisingly - Itachi had known all along about his true identity. What _was_ surprising - very much so - was the stop of their biju hunt and the fact that they all actually started letting Itachi help them with things. The direction of the Akatsuki was changing, they all soon realized, and they still didn't know what will happen next, but they _did_ know that they were now closer than ever.

And whatever they may now face, the Akatsuki was no longer just an organization of S-ranked ninja criminals, but a _family_ as well.

And all that after just one week with a baby Itachi.

OWARI


End file.
